Acclaimed short story and serial writer, Paula Williams, has been named as the local judge for the 2010 Frome Festival short story competition.
Paula Williams (who also writes under the pseudonym Polly Gingell) is Somerset born and bred. Hundreds of her stories have appeared in magazines in the UK and overseas and she writes a monthly column for the writers’ magazine ‘Writers’ Forum’, holds regular workshops and will give talks to anyone who’ll listen, even if it’s only the bus queue!
Her friends, family, pets and many of the residents of the small village of Wookey where she lives have all appeared in her stories at some time – which is slightly worrying given that many of them are murder mysteries!
She is a member of the Society of Authors, West Country Writers Association, the Romantic Novelists Association and the Crime Writers Association.
Speaking about her selection as judge she said, “I am thrilled to have been asked to judge this year’s competition – and more than a little nervous! It’s an awesome responsibility but one I’m looking forward to very much indeed.’
Alison Clink, the competition’s organiser added, “I’m delighted that Paula has agreed to judge the local entries in the 2010 Frome Festival short story competition. In addition to her prolific writing career, she is also an entertaining speaker and captivated an audience at the 2009 festival with her talk entitled “Selling my grandmother and other family members”, which was full of anecdotes about her writing life and tips for successful short story writing.
“Now approaching its seventh year, the Frome Festival short story competition continues to go from strength to strength. Last year we had some 400 entries from across the globe. The standard as always was impressive, as was the number of local entries. We hope to see just as many in the bulging mailbag after the 2010 competition opens on 1st January 2010.”
