A few months ago I was thrilled to be asked to judge a short story competition organised by my local library services.
Every year, the Crossing the Tees Festival takes place across Middlesbrough, Stockton, Hartlepool, Darlington and Redcar and Cleveland libraries. A short story competition results in the publication of an anthology by local publisher Sixth Element.
Of over 100 entries, 30 were shortlisted and the three judges were asked to whittle them down to choose three winners and a handful of highly commended stories.
It was my first time judging a competition and I was surprised by how challenging it was.
There were so many fantastic stories, across a range of genres and styles and so many of them deserved recognition – more than we were allowed to choose anyway!
Each of the judges had different favourites and we spent a long, rainy evening discussing them and their merits. Which stories were the ones that moved us, or created a whole world in our imaginations? Which ones were full of pathos, realistic characters or narrative twists?
I was honoured to read so many great stories and this week I had the chance to meet some of their authors at the competition awards ceremony, where I was able to read an extract from the winning story, Carlin How Kunoichi, by Phoebe Wheeler.
This was an unexpected story told by a character with a strong narrative voice, a story that played with flashes of shock, humour and disgust to create a sense of decay, in both its setting and its narrator.
I’m looking forward to reading more from some of these writers in the future.
Thanks to the library teams for inviting me to take part. I might even submit my own story next year…
Support local writing initiatives and buy your copy of the anthology here.