The winners of the Frome Festival Short Story Competition and two other local writing competitions received their awards recently as the sun shone on the Merlin Theatre’s ECOS stones.
This year’s judge of the Short Story Competition was writer, editor and educator, Kylie Fitzpatrick, who commented on all the shortlisted entries and stressed the importance of an author’s unique voice.
The competition attracted entries from as far away as South Korea but the winners were all from the south west, with first prize going to David Bonnett of Exeter, second to Sally Curtis of Poole and third to Robert Campbell from Bristol.
David Bonnett was unable to attend but his winning story was ably read by Richard Grey of Frome Writers’ Collective. Robert Campbell also won the prize for best local entry, with Genevieve Flintham of Wells as runner-up. Stories by Sue Smith, Fiontan Fleming and Nikki Lloyd were all highly commended.
Some of the winning stories can be read online via the link below.
Another event that has been running for many years is the annual Writers in Residence competition, which sees local writers stationed in the town’s shops, cafes and public buildings on a summer Saturday, devoting three hours to the writing of a story in response to a prompt given to them on the day.
Their stories are judged anonymously and the winner is awarded a trophy created in memory of the late Alan Somerville, a keen member of the Frome Writers’ Collective and ‘Writer in Residence’ participant.
This year’s winners were: first, Mike Rogers; second, Olive Morris; and third, Irene Pinner. They received book tokens kindly donated by Winstone’s Hunting Raven Bookshop.
The Young Writers’ Award is a more recent addition to writing opportunities in Frome that aims to encourage young talent. It caters to local writers aged between 11 and 21, in two age categories.
This competition is hosted by Frome Writers’ Collective, funded by the generosity of two successful writers with Frome connections, Kerry Wilkinson and Keith Stuart and was judged by the author and UK Patron of Reading, Joffre White.
This year, the winner in the 16 to 21 age group was Grace Maddrell, while the 11 to 15 age group was won by Tegan Southway. The runners-up were Bella Peace and Hazel Griffander.
Link to winning stories https://fromeshortstorycompetition.co.uk
