Monday, August 06, 2012

Honours go to South Africa and Australia in writing competition


Judge Fiona Cooper has selected her winners for the June Global Short Story Competition and writers from South Africa and Australia have taken the honours.
The £100 first place prize goes to a writer from Cape Town, South Africa. Fiona says of Cup of Tea, by Simon Humphreys: “I love stories where I am drawn completely into a different reality and, when the reality is built up so well that the craziness and pathos of the situation is inevitable and credible, I know I have found a great story and a wonderful talent. The language is multi-layered and compliments the claustrophobic atmosphere perfectly. The story reminded me of the phenomenal Hugh Walpole in The Old Ladies, in my opinion his best work.”
The £25 highly commended prize goes to Alison Gibbs, of Ashbury, NSW, Australia, of whose story Mr Stevenson’s Suit, Fiona says: “What a joy this work brought me! I was delighted to find a different angle on one of my favourite writers, Robert Louis Stevenson. This story is pacy, witty and amusing, building characters and changing scenes swiftly and with a deft use of language which is very pleasing.”
The awards take to £8,000 the amount handed out by the competition organisers since it launched five years ago.
The writers on the shortlist are:
Kelly Hayes-Rai, Santa Monica, United States
Simon Jones, Glasgow, Scotland
Vinaya Bhagat, Bangalore, Karnatka, India
Andy Rigley, Stanley Common, Derbyshire, England
Sharon Birch, Aberfeldy, Scotland
Charly Conquest, Richmond, Surrey, England
Gayle Beveridge, Narre Warren North, Victoria Australia (for Maxi and A Smile on her Lips)
Chris Connolly, Dublin, Ireland

Stories can be entered into the competition at www.globalshortstories.net
Well done to our successful writers. 

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