Prose
2010 Short Story Winners
First Prize: Joanna Pocock's 'Don't Breathe a Word' and
Vanessa Jones' 'Plasticated' are the joint wInners.
We were fortunate to have Alan McMunnigall as the judge. Unfortunately for Alan the standard was so high that we have two winners of the first prize, Joanne Pocock and Vanessa Jones, Alan writes:
I was impressed with the range and the overall standard of writing. I appreciated the ambition of the pieces and the general avoidance of cheap narrative tricks and sensationalism. The range of stories included Adam E. Smith’s “On the Other Side of the Glass Wall,” which takes the reader inside the head of a grieving father, and “For the Love of Harry” by Denise Reeder, a restrained portrait of loneliness. Particularly good was the way writers were able to create skilful narrative shifts. Throughout these stories I noted that character and dialogue were prioritised over such concerns as plot and twist endings - as a result many of the scenes, characters and the situations they faced will stay with me for a long time.
The best of the writing left plenty of room for the reader to interact imaginatively with the subject matter, and in this sense I felt there was a real understanding of the artistic value of ambiguity. These stories rarely told you what to think: instead they allowed you to draw your own conclusions (or even not to draw conclusions at all). The old adage trust your reader was evident.
“Gene Krupa” by Lynne Voyce is a story with a musical theme. This ambitious piece is beautifully written and constructed. The interactions between the characters are convincing and the amount of ground covered in such a short space is testament to the author’s ability.
Picking a winner was extremely difficult, between what I felt were the best three or four entries. “Flowers’ by Allan Wilson with its convincing dialogue and brilliantly-drawn protagonist is a standout piece with a slightly surreal edginess and some fine dramatic moments. Likewise “Beginning’ by Joe Murphy is an incredibly sophisticated short story that deals impressively with issues of subtle racism and the inner working and dynamics of a relationship. Both of these stories would grace any anthology of fiction.
In the end I decided that it would have to be a joint prize as two very different stories proved impossible to separate.
“Don’t Breathe a Word” by Joanna Pocock is a brave piece of writing. While there is tight focus on the event at hand - a boy receiving a tattoo - the reader is drawn into the ‘backstory’ of the main character and the deeper significance of his situation. It is a good example of third-person narration. The voice, from the opening sentence, is excellent. Equally, the description of tattooing itself is so powerfully rendered that the reader has the sensation of experiencing the pain of the needle.
The other joint winner is “Plasticated” by Vanessa Jones. This story is both tragic and comedic. It is told mainly through dialogue between two elderly characters. It impressed me for a number of reasons, but primarily because the writer is able to employ ‘turns’ in the narrative. With a deceptively light tone this story deals with some big issues and is an example of a writer who is completely open to the creative possibilities of a restrained narrative. Essentially it is a much darker piece that appears on a first reading.
Alan McMunnigall was born in Glasgow and teaches creative writing and literature at The University of Glasgow. His fiction has appeared in numerous literary magazines and journals, and an illustrated version of his long short story the atheist was published in 2007. He has recently finished a book-length story cycle (edited by the poet Tom Leonard).
First Prize: Joanna Pocock's 'Don't Breathe a Word' and
Vanessa Jones' 'Plasticated' are the joint wInners.
We were fortunate to have Alan McMunnigall as the judge. Unfortunately for Alan the standard was so high that we have two winners of the first prize, Joanne Pocock and Vanessa Jones, Alan writes:
I was impressed with the range and the overall standard of writing. I appreciated the ambition of the pieces and the general avoidance of cheap narrative tricks and sensationalism. The range of stories included Adam E. Smith’s “On the Other Side of the Glass Wall,” which takes the reader inside the head of a grieving father, and “For the Love of Harry” by Denise Reeder, a restrained portrait of loneliness. Particularly good was the way writers were able to create skilful narrative shifts. Throughout these stories I noted that character and dialogue were prioritised over such concerns as plot and twist endings - as a result many of the scenes, characters and the situations they faced will stay with me for a long time.
The best of the writing left plenty of room for the reader to interact imaginatively with the subject matter, and in this sense I felt there was a real understanding of the artistic value of ambiguity. These stories rarely told you what to think: instead they allowed you to draw your own conclusions (or even not to draw conclusions at all). The old adage trust your reader was evident.
“Gene Krupa” by Lynne Voyce is a story with a musical theme. This ambitious piece is beautifully written and constructed. The interactions between the characters are convincing and the amount of ground covered in such a short space is testament to the author’s ability.
Picking a winner was extremely difficult, between what I felt were the best three or four entries. “Flowers’ by Allan Wilson with its convincing dialogue and brilliantly-drawn protagonist is a standout piece with a slightly surreal edginess and some fine dramatic moments. Likewise “Beginning’ by Joe Murphy is an incredibly sophisticated short story that deals impressively with issues of subtle racism and the inner working and dynamics of a relationship. Both of these stories would grace any anthology of fiction.
In the end I decided that it would have to be a joint prize as two very different stories proved impossible to separate.
“Don’t Breathe a Word” by Joanna Pocock is a brave piece of writing. While there is tight focus on the event at hand - a boy receiving a tattoo - the reader is drawn into the ‘backstory’ of the main character and the deeper significance of his situation. It is a good example of third-person narration. The voice, from the opening sentence, is excellent. Equally, the description of tattooing itself is so powerfully rendered that the reader has the sensation of experiencing the pain of the needle.
The other joint winner is “Plasticated” by Vanessa Jones. This story is both tragic and comedic. It is told mainly through dialogue between two elderly characters. It impressed me for a number of reasons, but primarily because the writer is able to employ ‘turns’ in the narrative. With a deceptively light tone this story deals with some big issues and is an example of a writer who is completely open to the creative possibilities of a restrained narrative. Essentially it is a much darker piece that appears on a first reading.
Alan McMunnigall was born in Glasgow and teaches creative writing and literature at The University of Glasgow. His fiction has appeared in numerous literary magazines and journals, and an illustrated version of his long short story the atheist was published in 2007. He has recently finished a book-length story cycle (edited by the poet Tom Leonard).
