Alysoun Owen, Editor of the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook reveals the winner and runners-up of this year's competition...
Once again, I have had the pleasure of reading some accomplished pieces of storytelling as I have reviewed the shortlisted stories in this year’s Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook Short Story Competition. We received entries from all corners of the globe: there was an impressive number and many were of a high standard. We didn’t provide a theme to guide the writing this year, and unsurprisingly there were numerous stories that took Covid-19, pandemics and lockdown as their inspiration. There were stories about death and loss and some very poignant narratives placing contemporary events within a wider historical setting. We had fewer stories in the science fiction and fantasy genres than usual; writing for a writing competition cropped up as a concept in several stories, and several entrants admitted, had it not been for lockdown, they would not have entered the competition.
In his Foreword to the current, 2021 edition of the Yearbook, bestselling novelist S.J. Watson alludes to the challenging year that has just passed, and he highlights the necessity of storytelling: ‘We’ll always need stories. They make us human. They connect us – across space, across time.’ Indeed, they do. May his words provide some comfort as you continue to experience the ups and downs of 2021 and embark on your next stories.
What was I looking for when judging the shortlist?
I was hoping for stories that were well-crafted and structured and that engrossed me from start to finish with their content and in the telling. I was looking for a piece of literary alchemy that combines the familiar in a new and arresting way: that manages to capture a moment or an emotion perfectly, that causes the hairs on the back of this reader’s neck to prickle with joy or terror or recognition. The stories by the three finalists were all pieces of quality writing and prove that a story does not have to a wide geographical, historical or psychological sweep to be successful.
Congratulations to this year’s winners! Click on the story titles to read each winning story.
First place
The Gift by Sue Swingler
This is an accomplished story-memoir that links a grandmother and her granddaughter across time through an inherited bureau, the stories it has to tell, and letters secreted in it.
Second place
You’ve Made Your Bed by Glenise Lee
The brilliant final twist in this story invites the reader to interrogate his or her/their own assumptions and prejudices in a very clever way.
Third place
Losing The Plot by Katherine Shand
This story is a very well-crafted, witty reflection on the writing process, weaving some inter-related narratives together.
An extra commendation goes to Jenny Recaldin’s story Incubation which deftly encapsulates some of the intense feelings and moments of personal torment that many have experienced during the last year.
Sue Swingler wins a place on an Arvon creative writing course. We are grateful to Arvon for sponsoring this story and providing this great prize.
Alysoun Owen, Editor Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook and Children’s Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook and author of the Writers’ & Artists’ Guide to Getting Published
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If you were not successful this year, do consider entering next year’s competition which will be announced on this site in July when the next edition of the Yearbook is published. And we encourage you to look out for other competitions that are promoted on www.writersandartists.co.uk and across other creative writing sites and publications.
If you are new to short story writing and are looking for inspiration, here are some writers who excel in the form: Anton Chekhov, Katherine Mansfield, Ernest Hemingway, Alice Munro, James Baldwin, William Trevor, George Saunders.
Share your recommendations of short story writers whose work you enjoy with others in the Writers & Artists community.
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