Short Story Prize 2012 Winners
Last Saturday 24th March was the culmination all the efforts made by hundreds of writers and by trustee Chris Martin and friends of Home-Start, Dennis Harkness who organized the competition . At the Bridgwater Arts Centre theatre, attended by the Mayor and Mayoress.
Award-winning novelist Patricia Ferguson announced the winners from 380 stories submitted by writers from home and abroad who were all judged anonymously.
The first prize of £500 went to Jenny Tunstall, who lives in Portishead. Her story, ‘The Fall’, was praised for its risk-taking originality and stylish refusal to follow any rules.- Second (£200) came ‘Dragon’s Teeth’ by Simon Van der Velde of Newcastle.
- Third prize (£100) was won by an American author, Evan Guilford-Blake, of Atlanta Georgia, with ‘Dust’.
The three winning stories were read out by local volunteers to an appreciative full-house audience.
Seven other stories had been short listed. Their writers included residents of Oxford, Surrey and North Somerset, as well as Spaxton’s Jan Howard. All these were awarded certificates of commendation.
After presenting the prizes Patricia gave a brief and insightful talk to the rapt audience on how she made her selection. She said she was drawn to writers who show confidence and daring and pointed out how important it is not to have ‘cardboard cut-out’ characters just there for the plot. Especially in a short story, a writer needs to know every little detail about the background from the time it is set, the place and the history of each character; they need not necessarily tell us, the reader, but it will show if they don’t know themselves.
Liz McGrath, Chair of Trustees ,thanked all the writers who had submitted stories & the readers for taking part . With the help of sponsors including Wessex Water, the competition had raised over £3000 towards the charity’s work with families in and around Bridgwater. She also singled out Patricia Ferguson who had so carefully carried out the time-consuming task of Judge without asking for any payment.
And finally she gave heartfelt thanks to the two organisers, Chris and Dennis who had done everything from publicizing, collating, finding readers, working out the fair system for judging AND, in Chris’s case, preparing a delicious lunch and organizing helpers for tea.
Before too long the public and writers will be able to get news of next year’s contest and to read winning stories in full, on this website.
The scheme is delighted that this has been such a success from a fund-raising point of view. And also because of all the wonderful responses it has received about our work from many of the entrants.
As organizer I would like to add my thanks to everyone who wrote stories whether they were shortlisted or not. I am touched that many of you did it because our cause ‘was worth it’. Keep writing!
