First prize – Elinor Nash for her story ‘The Ghost Boy’
Lucy Luck commented:
“A strong and impressive voice, beautifully controlled. A young boy disabled in a bike accident is real and vivid on the page, and we see how the world has changed for him and for those around him through the marshmallow and baked bean sounds of the everyday. Top marks.”
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Second prize, £200 – Kit De Waal for her story ‘The Beautiful Thing’
Lucy Luck commented:
“Really strong story-telling perfectly paced and pitched. I love the father’s voice, and the way we move between New York, Antigua, the shoe shop and the kitchen is beautifully handled, and the ending is extremely well-done. Very good indeed.”
Third prize of £100 – Alex Hammond for his story ‘No Man’s Land’
Lucy Luck commented:
“The tone of the piece is impressive and I particularly liked the shift of PoV, and the way this moment in time (an afternoon, an evening) is used to such effect to highlight the noise and trauma of a war zone. Characterisation strong, ending very strong.”
Read No Man’s Land Here
Local prize of £50 in book vouchers sponsored by Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights, Bath – Anne Corlett for her story ‘The Language of Birds’ (Commended)
Lucy Luck commented:
“Very good opening, very good voice, the scene is set impressively and I like the way the story of the narrator’s life and lie are unveiled, and how we come to understand that the knowledge of this lie will go when her memory goes – that she has got away with it. Made me feel uncomfortable that I sympathised with the narrator when I realised how she has managed to live around a secret this psychologically profound. Thought-provoking, there’s a lot beneath the words.”
Read The Language of Birds Here
The Acorn Award for an unpublished writer, £50 – sponsored by Writing Events Bath - Clare Connolly for ‘The Crust’
Our shortlist judges commented:
‘The intensity of the story lives on in our minds. We were impressed at how it works on several levels which increases its poignancy and makes it more powerful than other stories on this theme.’
Read The Crust Here
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Commended – Lisa Harding for her story ‘It’s a Girl’
Lucy Luck commented:
“A very convincing portrayal of how it might feel to be powerless within a family group in a strange country, looking out at the world, knowing how misunderstood you have to be to survive. Nicely controlled narrative and I am impressed by how effectively I saw the world from a different perspective.”
Read It’s a Girl Here
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Commended – Roisin O’Donnell for her story, ‘Under the Jasmine Tree’
Lucy commented:
“This is a well-constructed, well-told story with a beautiful sense of the heat of Seville, and an unsentimental but moving representation of love lost and a life of quiet resignation. The 1st person voice is nicely done.”
Under the Jasmine Tree
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