We had almost 500 entries to our 1,000-Word Short Story Competition and the judges were once again blown away by the talent on display. Many entries which didn’t make it onto the longlist or shortlist were truly brilliant so please don’t be discouraged if your name doesn’t appear below.
We’d like to say a massive thank you to our fantastic head judge, Cassandra Parkin, who has has selected the three winners and an additional seven entries for the shortlist.
We’d also like to give a nod to the creative writing charity, First Story – £1.00 from each entry from this competition has been donated to First Story to help them continue their increasingly essential work.
Thank you also to everyone who entered the competition, the judges have been impressed by the range of styles and subjects covered and the general brilliance of the entries across almost all genres
So let’s cut to the chase… here are the winners.
Winners, Shortlist & Head Judge Cassandra Parkin’s Comments
Cassandra said: “It’s been such a massive privilege and pleasure to read the longlisted stories. The standard was high, the variety was fabulous and there was something I loved about every single piece. Congratulations the winners, to the shortlisted entrants, and indeed to everyone who put themselves out there by entering. It’s a scary thing to send your work into the world, and you did it.”
Winners
First Prize (£1,000): Love, Or Something by Patrick Spiker
Patrick Spiker is a writer and educator, born and raised in small-town Wyoming. While not writing, he is usually out exploring nature, drawing inspiration for his next piece of fiction. Follow him on Instagram: @patrick_spiker_
Head judge’s comments: “This story hooked me from the first sentence, taking me into the unnamed narrator’s brief and heart-breaking encounter with a young girl called Regan Cox. Sharp dialogue brings the characters instantly to life, while small and well-chosen physical details evoke the world they’re in. I especially enjoyed that I get the exact same amount of time with Regan that the narrator does. Just like her, by the end what I feel for Regan is possibly love, and definitely something. Absolutely gorgeous storytelling.”
Second Prize (£300): TAKEAWAY by Tim Fywell
Tim Fywell is a BAFTA-winning TV and Film Director whose work for television includes Cracker, Happy Valley, River, and The English Game, and the feature films I Capture The Castle and Ice Princess. He has recently been writing fiction too (flash fiction and short stories), is currently working on his first novel and has been commissioned to write a theatrical film screenplay.
Head judge’s comments: “Poetically written and brutally believable, Chlo’s unhealthy relationship with her boyfriend Dean peeks out from beneath the story she’s telling herself about her life. Like all the best horror, we can see the danger even when she can’t. I both want, and don’t want, to know what happened next to Chlo. I hope she got away, but I’m afraid she’s still trapped, and that the darkness that’s hinted at is coming for her.”
Third Prize (£200): How To Have An Existential Crisis by Jamie Simpher
Jamie Simpher graduated from the University of Iowa in 2014. For the last eight years she has worked as a professional writer in the world of advertising, but one day she aspires to be a swashbuckling pirate captain sailing the high seas. Her work has been published in SmallWondersMagazine and nominated for a Rhysling Award. In the fall, she will attend the University of Alaska Fairbanks to pursue her MFA in creative writing. When she isn’t writing stories and poems, she loves to do yoga, cook vegetarian meals, and travel. She is an absolute recluse on social media, but if you insist, you can find her on Instagram: @average_pirate.
Head judge’s comments: “A surprisingly hilarious account of the nihilistic misery of hating your life, while also being just a bit too comfortable to try and change it. Funny moments of observation (the pointlessness of kettlebells) combine with the darker stuff (choosing yoga classes and order-in sushi over the hard work of chasing down your dreams). Good comedy has bite; this piece made me laugh while also jabbing me in tender spots.”
Shortlist
Here are the other entries that head judge Cassandra Parkin selected for the shortlist of the competition, along with her comments on each:
Me In My Krakow Apartment (Borrowed), 1991 by Audrey Slade – “This piece took me to another place, and also back in time, to the years just after the Iron Curtain fell. A gorgeously nostalgic and evocative piece of writing.”
Black Bird, Fly! by Susan Imbs – “Fabulous dystopian writing that builds a whole world in an incredibly economical space. Creating a new syntax and vocabulary for your characters is always a tightrope, and this piece gets the balance just right.”
Another Motherland by Sherry Morris – “This contemporary riff on The Wizard Of Oz draws on elements of Dorothy’s original journey to create a new fable of escape. I share the writer’s conviction that movie-Dorothy COULD NOT POSSIBLY have preferred Kansas to Oz, so it was beautiful to see that concept of ‘home’ put under a critical lens.”
I Live Inside An Almond Croissant by Gabby Jonsberg-Holmes – “This story takes a gloriously surreal concept and absolutely commits to it, creating an oblique and memorable fable that delicately explores the housing crisis.”
First Sunday Home by Chris Cottom – “In a time when the wars of the 20th Century suddenly feel very close again, this piece forges a beautiful connection with the Lost Generation, and the sacrifices they made.”
Engagement Party by Fikayo Adewunmi – “The loving / spiky relationship between Abi and her mother Bisi is at the heart of this story, which explores deep questions of identity, heritage and belonging.”
The Grand Piano by Jake Willeford – “The characters in this atmospheric story are a gorgeous reminder to the reader that art and beauty are a need, not a want.”
Longlist
Here are the authors/stories that just fell short of the shortlist:
Peter Clements – The Time Shortage
Mircea Cioromela – Necromancer
Jaime Gill – Two Taxi Rides At Dawn
Jaime Gill – Waves Fall On Every Shore
Aviva Barazani – Projection
Katrina Moinet – INTO THE WOODS
June O’Sullivan – Accabadora
Catherine Cooper – Words on Chesil Beach
Laura Coleman – A Misunderstanding
Duncan Gould – Wet Wednesdays
Jay McKenzie – Syzygy
Melissa DaCosta Brown – Solstice
Anne Meale – Face Armour
Dara Flaws – Hunger
Phoebe Thomas – My Mother’s Shadow Song
Lisette Abrahams – The Monkeys on Worthing Pier
Jude Neiman – Kintsugi
Kate Niestrom – To Face a Lake Monster
Andrew Boulton – The Ingledew Experiments
Sandra Jensen – THE GIFT
Abi Turner – A Pair of Gummy Worms
Abi Turner – Bleach
Wendy A Markel – If It Doesn’t Hurt, It’s Not Art
Wendy A Markel – Fields Of Gold
Emma Munro – The Queenie Merdas Touch
Ruairi Bolton – The Mad Old Space Kook
Tianyue Ma – A Single Drop of Rain
Caitlin Carpenter – A Spell for the Collective
Jay McKenzie – Baking Red Velvet in Queensland
Julian Adlard Jarick Weldon All Journeys Have Value
Sarah Powell – The Wacafield Master
Declan McCarthy – Orangutan Hermits
Catarina Santos – Study on Wilting
A note to the other entrants
Remember, if you haven’t made the longlist or shortlist, it DOES NOT mean your story wasn’t brilliant. As with all writing competitions, the judging process is necessarily subjective and difficult. Even if your story hasn’t won a prize this time, there’s no reason it can’t win or get published elsewhere.
We thank you all for entering and hope you continue have the courage to write and submit your work to competitions or magazines and journals.