Winner of the 2010 Short Story Competition

We had well over 1,000 entries for this year’s competition, on the theme of ‘unity’ or ‘union’ and, as usual, standards were high – very high.

Stories were varied and subjects ranged from property issues between England and Wales, to conjoined twins, cloning and severed body parts. Other more ‘out there’ plots told of strange cults performing satanic initiation ceremonies, intergalactic space travel, alien brothels and ghost mice plucking souls.

Interestingly, more than a third of the stories involved conversations in which one or other of the protagonists was smoking cigarettes (of the legal and illegal variety).

When making the choice which story should win, I looked for:

• a strong start that drew me in straight away (those 2,000 words must be chosen carefully);
• an interesting take on the theme that was gripping enough to keep me reading to the end; and
• an ability to craft a complete story with a clear beginning, a distinct middle and a satisfactory end.

The winning entry is ‘In a Grain of Sand’ by Sheena Guz.

» Read the winning story here

The full shortlist appears at the end of this post. Go to the shortlist »

*spoiler warning* It’s a story about a young Buddhist monk who travels to London with two elder monks to produce a ‘mandala’ out of coloured sands in a public library on the third floor of a shopping centre. We hear the monk’s thoughts as works his way through the three-day task of creating the pattern: his anxieties lessen, his judgements change and by the time the mandala is complete, his inner peace is restored and the job of the mandala is done.

I really enjoyed reading Sheena’s story. It has a very calming, soothing quality. She incorporated the theme of unity on several levels: in the grains of sand, in the coming together of different people, beliefs and cultures (do shopping centres unite our desire to spend?) and of time, space and life.

So congratulations to Sheena. She wins £500 plus a coveted place on an Arvon residential writing course as well as having her story published on this site.

We thank everyone who entered the 2010 competition and reassure you there will be many more competitions to come. Keep watching this space.

Warm wishes, Jo

(Editor, Writers' & Artists' Yearbook)

Winning entry:

‘In a Grain of Sand’ by Sheena Guz

The shortlist (alphabetical by author):

'Use Somebody' by Kauren Bartz

'Chilli Jam' by Justin Davies

'Union' by Rosy Edwards

'Journeys End in Lovers Meeting’ by Jennifer Kharibian

'My Beautiful Nemesis' by Craig Melville

'Unity' by Libby O’Loghlin

'A Home at Shady Pines' by Luise Usiskin

'Against their Wishes' by Adam Windsor

'Atelic' by Katie Young