Honours shared in latest competition
THE winners have been named in the April Global Short Story Competition and the UK, Australia and Canada are celebrating. The winner for April is Mary Marland, of Grimsby, in east Yorkshire in the UK, with Baby Doll’s Lament.Judge Fiona Cooper, the respected North-East England writer, said of the story: “This story has got the lot! Lovely use of language, an original concept and a great twist right at the end. The writer takes us right into the world of a post-Victorian child, and subtly draws the adults in her world from the child’s point of view - rather like the world of Tom and Jerry where people are only seen from the knees down. It’s quite a skill to involve a reader in a separate emotional reality in a short story, and it is a very accomplished writer who can write from a doll’s point of view without a shred of whimsy. Excellent.”
She was also impressed with the runner-up, the highly commended The Funeral of William the Monk by Bella Anderson, of Richmond, Australia, of whose story Fiona said: “Dark humour at its best in this story: the writer creates a restless cosmos where the chaos theory reigns supreme.”
Mary receives £100, Bella £25.
Commended stories were:
* The Happy Groove by Dylan Paschke, of Leeds, UK, of whose story Fiona said: “Bold and very, very funny, a laid back style which conveys the inner world of the very laid back main character. From the opening sentence I was engaged and laughing out loud by the end. “
And The Tin Whistle by Chuck Lovatt, of Manitoba, Canada. Fiona said: “The words in this story flow beautifully and are beautifully crafted. The central theme has been used many times, but this is a great and original approach and it reads so well it comes across as fresh, but the way it is handled shows a remarkable degree of sensitivity. A fine achievement.”
Well done one and all! And there is still time to enter our May competition.
John Dean