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Showing posts from June, 2010

Winners: short story competition 2009/10

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Exeter Writers Short Story Competition 2009/10. The stories are online; follow the links. First – Rowena Macdonald - The Silent Isle Second – Sarah Evans - Us Third – Amanda Bartlett - Where the Devil Lost his Poncho Shortlisted: Alison Bacon - Mouse Years Sarah England - The Madness Within Annette Keen - The Self-Preservation Society Norman Kitching - A Matter of Time Daniel Knibb - Daughter’s Song Jenny Knight - I’d Do Anything Michele McGrath Edwin - Don’t Mess with Meadowside and Five Lamps Tony Oswick - The Writing Group Ann Stevens - The Golden Goose Thanks to all our entrants.

1st Place (2009/10) - The Silent Isle by Rowena Macdonald

The Silent Isle by Rowena Macdonald ‘"I am half sick of shadows," said The Lady of Shalott.’ - Tennyson On either side of the Whitechapel Road chaos is in full flood. Market stall-holders hammer out their patter: “bowl for pound tomato pepper onion bowl for pound”, “seventy pee coriander parsley parsley coriander seventy pee”. An African woman stalks through the customers shouting about God through a megaphone. Behind her is another African woman with a banner that reads ‘Christ is Risen’. A white woman spits at a

2nd Prize (2009/10) - Us by Sarah Evans

US by Sarah Evans We gather up along the way to school.           Gemma’s first. Then me, watching for her at the bottom of our road. She’s never when she should be; I always wait. Next is Jess, a few more roads along. Sometimes she walks back to meet us. Last is Trish. It’s off the straight way there. We twist along her narrow street with houses tightly packed, right up to her door. The window is on the road, and the paint blisters and flakes on the sill, and you can’t see in through the grime and net curtains. She opens the door just as we get there, her hair straight and dark, cut to points around her ears – four sets of studs – her jumper tied round her waist, no matter that it’s April and cold.

3rd Prize (2009/10) - Where the Devil lost his poncho by Amanda Bartlett

Where the Devil Lost His Poncho by Amanda Bartlett She was Spanish and a little bit crazy. He was English and a little bit dull. Her name was Mariaje, a contraction of Maria Jesus. In the first weeks of their relationship, she coached him without cease or mercy on the correct pronunciation. It was the Spanish jota, the ‘j’ in the middle of Mariaje, that he found so difficult to manage.