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The winner of the 2005 Short Story Competition is
Sarah Bower with The Archaeology of Ironing. you can read her
story here.
Many thanks to everyone who entered. We had nearly a
hundred entries from all over the United Kingdom as well as a few from
other continents. Thanks also to Julia Bell for adjudicating the
competition.
The commended entries were:
Jacqueline Barker
UA 276
Jenny Morris
Little Red Jacket
Sarah Bower
The Wisdom Of Cakes
Cathy Whitfield
The Waterhorse
Andrea Porter
The Sound of a Body Breaking the Surface
Tension of a Solution
The Short List was:
Sarah Passingham
That Killed The Rat
Legless
Alexandra Fox
The Mixolydian Mole
Antoinette Moses
Red Ochre
Bridget Gardner
Glasshouse
Daniel Sheppard
The Time Capsule
Andre Mangeot
The Wood Yard
David Jonathan Hill
The Meeting
Jacqueline Barker
UA 276
Finbar O’Toole
The Bog-Oak Menagerie
Franca Davenport
Two Long Blacks
Sarah Crowe
The Beach
Sarah Bower
The Wisdom Of Cakes
The Archaeology Of Ironing
Andrea Porter
The Sound of a Body Breaking the Surface
Tension of a Solution
Care
Jenny Morris
Little Red Jacket
Cathy Whitfield
The Waterhorse
Emma Johnstone
Nine Years Old
Mike O'Driscoll
Dutch Courage
Judge's Remarks:
The Archaeology of Ironing (87)
This was by far the best piece in this selection the writing has an
authorial confidence that is immediately engaging and convincing. I also
felt that the writer of this piece was of a publishable standard. The
narrator’s voice is chillingly neurotic and suppressed, and the prose
is eloquent and well paced. The character is convincing and her self
loathing, and jealousy towards the ex-wife is well illustrated. The
ending of the piece is flawed in that the narrator’s love of
archaeology should be prefigured earlier on. But I felt that this was a
small plot detail, in what is an effective portrayal of a woman
repressing herself for the sake of her marriage.
Commended:
UA276 (20)
This story, focusing on an incident on flight UA 276 made for quite
terrifying reading. Especially as I’m getting on a plane next week.
This piece was well-realised, focusing around an incident which changes
the opinion of our central character. The author shows good use of pace
and dialogue and the characters are surprising and interesting. I
wondered if the moment of epiphany wasn’t too quiet though, in that I
wanted there to be more at stake for the girl. But overall this piece is
a strong contender.
Little Red Jacket (56)
This is a playful reworking of Red Riding Hood set on a northern estate.
The dialogue at the end is especially strong and frightening and the
child’s point of view is well achieved.
The Wisdom of Cakes (88)
This was another strong contender. The narrator’s voice had an ironic
weariness about it that brought to mind the stories of Lorrie Moore. It
needed perhaps a little tightening to polish the sentence structure in
places, and the ‘Wisdom of Cakes’ idea was a little forced at the
end. But it was a good portrayal of a family gathering and the author
skillfully navigated the reader around a roomful of people which is not
an easy thing to achieve.
The Waterhorse (68)
A beautiful and touching piece about a marriage in crisis told from the
male perspective. I liked the end of this piece a great deal – there
was a bittersweet hopefulness about it which was moving and convincing.
My only reservation was that the author didn’t make enough out of the
central symbolism of the Waterhorse (Pike).
The Sound of a Body Breaking the Surface Tension of a Solution (90)
In spite of the horrible title, this is in places a really beautifully
written piece of writing. Some stark and arresting moments of metaphor,
which made me wonder if the author wrote poetry too. The paragraphs need
paring back – a good editor would help this author develop further,
but there was a real ear for language on show here and in terms of raw
talent I felt this piece deserved to be noted.
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