Writer from Spain scoops top prize in the Global Short Story Competition.

A writer based in Spain has won the fourth annual prize awarded as part of the Global Short Story Competition.

The monthly competition run by Certys Limited from the North East of England, was launched in December 2007 and, in addition to monthly prizes, an annual award is made. The award, selected by a panel including monthly judge Fiona Cooper and competition administrator John Dean, goes to one of the writers who was successful in the previous twelve months of competitions.

That latest annual award goes to Bert Velthuis, of Ibiza, Spain, who won December’s competition with Napolo of which judge Fiona Cooper said at the time: “There are some stories that drive me to despair because the idea is there and the style lets them down. There are some pieces of writing that jump off the page purely because of the technique and yet the story simply doesn’t work. In this story, however, I was delighted by an excellent sustained style and also a compelling story, vivid in imagery, strong in pace.”

Special mention goes to our February 2011 winner Gayle Beveridge with Bloody Mongrel, which pushed Napolo hard. John Dean said: “I read plenty of short stories, many dealing with strong emotion, so it takes a lot to make me cry. Bloody Mongrel did it. Stories are meant to move their readers and this one did.”

Stories have come from all over the world during the competition’s time in existence and John said: “We established the competition to give a voice to writers seeking the bring their work to a wider audience. That has certainly happened and we have seen writers who enjoyed success in our competitions go on to do likewise in other competitions and by having their works published.”

The awarding of the £250 annual prize takes to £7,500 the amount of prize money now awarded. To enter or find our more, please go to www.globalshortstories.net

Certys itself recently entered the world of e-books on Amazon with the publication of four titles for Kindle. They are:

* Global Shorts - an anthology of short stories taken from the early years of the Global Short Competition and featuring writers from around the planet. A compelling, sometimes frightening, sometimes humorous, always excellent read. Price £2.23

* Vegemite Whiskers - a selection of some of the finest writing from Australian authors who have entered the Global Short Story Competition. From touching stories to those which make you laugh, this compilation is a true gem. Price £1.48.

* White Gold by Roger Barnes A thriller by first-time author Roger Barnes taking the reader into a world of intrigue and danger set amid the poachers of Africa and those trying to thwart their criminals efforts. £2.23

* Haghir the Dragon Finder, by John Dean, a comic fantasy for older children, taking the premise that nothing is as it seems. Haghir and his two hopeless comrades are dragon slayers seeking a fresh challenge. £1.48.

All can be obtained by going to www.amazon.co.uk and keying the title into the Kindle search field.

*Certys also runs a free social networking site for authors, which can be found at www.globalwriters.net