Sophie Forsyth

Sophie is a part time solicitor in London where she lives with her husband and three teenage daughters. She completed a Faber Academy creative writing course in 2019 and currently takes part in the Gold Dust writer mentoring scheme. Her fascination with the past and for historical fiction stems from her time studying history at Oxford University. The Collector of Curiosities, inspired by a visit to the Chelsea Physick Garden, is her first novel.

Our judge, Paul, commented: - “The Collector of Curiosities”

I am generally not naturally drawn to historical fiction. This has changed my mind and my world. It is beautifully crafted, elegantly written and with a nuanced balance between history and fiction. The history is trustworthy and the fiction so compelling that the two are seamless and make this work a stand out winner.

This is confident, highly accomplished writing by an author who understand the requirements of their story, is true to their characters and who demonstrates a flair for weaving fact and fiction that put me in mind of Hilary Mantel.

That the subject, Hans Sloane, has such a compelling story is by the by. In less accomplished hands this work could have been stilted and dull, but this author shows an evolved, deft touch in balancing light and shade, in the counterpoint between the political and the personal and consistently draws the underlying motivations of ambition, greed, fear and morality with such fine, subtle strokes.

This is a truly stunning piece of writing that delivers all a reader can ask for; great characters - from main protagonists to “walk on” urchins - a storyline that drives the reader from page to page with pace and depth and with such subtle, nuanced touches that it made this an utter joy and privilege to read. I wanted to read more of this, much more.

I congratulate the author on being a very worthy winner and hope that, in the lottery that is publishing, this work finds its place in bookshops here in the UK and further afield. It deserves to.

Luke Clifford Richardson

Born in Gloucester in 1985, Luke grew up in a number of places in South Wales and the South West of England before moving to London in 2009. He completed a doctorate on the literature of Albert Camus at University College London in 2014, where he was also a Postgraduate Teaching Assistant in the Humanities Faculty for five years. He has published on Camus in peer-reviewed journals and Brill’s Companion to Camus (2020). He completed the Novel Studio programme at City University in 2017 and has since been a full-time parent to his two-year-old daughter while pursuing his writing ambitions. Kaleidoscope is his first novel.

Our judge, Paul, commented: - “Kaleidoscope”

Billed in the synopsis as a “contemporary literary fiction,” this work does exactly what it says on the tin and delivers in spades. A gripping depiction of a pretty, fictional seaside resort beset by county lines drug dealing, Kaleidoscope is a compelling depiction of communal fear, societal decline and the eviscerating effect of the threat and delivery of violence on a once supposed tight-knit community.

That it is told in multiple voices, each clearly defined and beautifully drawn, gives a wonderful narrative structure and is deftly and confidently handled by the author. This work is highly convincing, utterly gripping and carries a message that has enormous contemporary relevance. It was a real treat, one that I enjoyed enormously and admire greatly. My sincere congratulations to the author.

Robert Cranbrook

Robert Cranbrook was born in Kettering in 1945. He is married with two sons and has lived for the last 35 years in Dorset.

After graduating from Aberdeen University, he spent 26 years as a teacher of modern languages, before joining Citizens’ Advice. He only took up writing seriously later in life. He has a continuing interest in European history and culture and when not reading or at his keyboard, he enjoys birdwatching, photography and good food.

Our judge, Paul, commented: - “Best Served Cold”

If ever a book deserved the strapline “Miss Marple meets George Smiley” this is it. A well conceived and beautifully written thriller, this author has a total control over their story and their characters and is as gifted at expressing both the tension and drama of the action sequences as they are at creating and managing the contrast with the quotidian and even mundane.

Tea and execution, the curiosity of youth and the wisdom of age, there are levels in this which I greatly admired, as I did the attention to detail in the historical descriptions and the knowledge and details of the tradecraft of 20th century espionage.

This writer should be very proud of their work, of the creation of the wonderful Katherine and of a fine piece of writing, which I would like, and feel deserves, to be published as a welcome new addition to a very competitive genre.

Martin Phillips

Born and brought up in Bromley, Martin Phillips taught English in secondary schools in London and the west country before becoming the Local Authority English Adviser for Devon. More recently he has run his own consultancy with a focus on helping schools to teach the writing process more effectively and – crucially – creatively. He has written a variety of educational books and is the author of a collection of short stories - Listening To Coloured Dreams.

Our judge, Susan, commented: - “A Nice bunch of Guys”

The outright winner for me was A Nice Bunch of Guys. What an excellent and immensely enjoyable story. Such assured writing and a well-rounded tale, succinctly told, that manages that difficult feat of being both entertaining, but also warm with richly drawn characters. Phil’s hopes and anxieties in particular were expertly, but also lovingly conveyed.

Anthony O'Reilly

Tony is a graphic designer who lives and works in Dalkey, Co. Dublin. He was shortlisted for the William Trevor Short Story Competition, The Sunday Tribune Hennessy’s New Writers competition and the George Bermingham short story competition. He won the Discovered Authors competition for the Republic of Ireland with his book, Sentinel, which won overall 2nd place in the UK and Ireland. Nowadays he is easing up on his business commitments and concentrating more on his first love: writing. At the moment he is working on his latest novel, a mystery/thriller, set in the immediate days following the 1916 Easter Rebellion in Dublin.

Our judge, Susan, commented: - “A Living Think”

In second place I have A Living Think. This story has such a quiet force - its resonance stays with you. I thought the boy’s pride in his father and in being with his father set against the actual experience of landing a fish was so well drawn. And I particularly liked the sparing way through which the father’s relationship with the boy’s mother was conjured. Skilful writing.

Terri Armstrong

Terri grew up in rural Western Australia and moved to the UK about thirty years ago, in her twenties. While doing factory and office work, she went to evening classes in Women’s Studies at North London Poly, then studied Politics and Sociology, and later Creative Writing, at UEA in Norwich. Her first novel, Standing Water, won the 2010 Yeovil Literary Prize and was published in 2012 by Pewter Rose Press. She has written drafts of three novels which all need attention. Instead, she’s been trying short stories. As much as she loves the depth that writing a novel offers, she finds it satisfying to have something complete in a shorter time. Terri has worked in homelessness and housing for many years. Writing helps keep her sane. She has recently trained and worked as a facilitator in Creative Writing for Wellbeing and hopes to continue this.

Our judge, Susan, commented: - “The Cubby House”

To be honest I was very close to awarding a joint third here and possibly still would if that is allowed. Writing from the first-person point of view of a young child is a hard feat to pull off successfully and this author has done so beautifully and authentically. An evocative and moving story which manages not to be saccharine.

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The judging team agreed as our two entries were very worthy joint-third places.

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Dianne Bown-Wilson

Dianne Bown-Wilson was born in England, grew up in New Zealand and has now retired to an inspirational property within Dartmoor National Park which she shares with her husband, two cats and a rich assortment of wildlife.

She has always written short stories and loves exploring depth of character and the extraordinary diversity of human relationships. In recent years her stories have either won prizes or been listed in competitions including the Fish Prize, Leicester Writes, Henshaw Prize, Writing Magazine, Writers Forum, Bedford Writing Competition, Flash 500, and numerous others. She had a story longlisted in the 2017 Yeovil Prize competition.

Thirty-two of her successful stories were published as Instructions for Living and Other Stories in 2016 and she is now compiling a second collection. She is currently working on her first novel.

Dianne’s previous career was in management and she has a PhD in Organizational Behaviour.

J.D. Sparkes

Aged about ten years old I remember asking my mum this question. "How old do you have to be to be a writer?" Smiling, she replied. "No particular age." I took this gently offered wisdom to heart and started bashing away on her old Bluebird typewriter, churning out clumsy laments about cowboys dying tragically after some shootout or other. In the intervening fifty-two years my style and subject matter has altered a little, but I still continue to write, mainly for the sheer pleasure and challenge of trying to make simple words work well.

I am quietly delighted that Caroline Gilfillan has chosen my poem and appreciate her kind comments immensely. I endeavour to write about the commonplace with both tenderness and truth and always feel blessed when someone else is touched by my efforts to achieve this.

Our judge, Caroline, commented: - “Death of a Decorator”

This tender, observant poem beautifully conjures the decorator who was ‘Almost ghostly’ even when alive. In deft, economical vignettes, the narrator explores a relationship with a man who was ‘a brooding presence, slowly sloughing off his overalls/Sullenly shedding the man he’d never planned to be.’ It is full of striking images, such as the overalls which become ‘this other self ... a suicide of sorts.’ The poignancy in the relationship is exemplified in the beautiful image of the child narrator who pulls the empty arms of the ‘worn unwanted skin’ of the overalls into ‘a limp hollow hug’ while the decorator dozes. The second half of the poem recounts the only time the decorator took the narrator with him to a house in which he was working – a house full of ‘white sheeted shapes ... spectral, silent; unknowable.’ Here, the child is allowed to help with the undercoating, and is rewarded by closeness: the ‘cigarette scent’ and a moment when ‘his old whiskered cheek scraped mine.’ But this is a poem that doesn’t sentimentalise this connection, for the older man soon becomes impatient, banishing the child to ‘an endless afternoon alone/ Picking at the peeling paper, wondering what was wrong.’ The structure and rhythm are poised, making this a memorable elegy for a man never fully known.

Janet Dean

Janet Dean is a writer from York. Her poetry has been shortlisted in the Bridport Prize, commended in the Stanza Poetry Competition and is included in the Northern Poetry Library’s 50th anniversary digital Poem of the North. Her work appears in anthologies and magazines published by Valley Press, Paper Swans, Templar and Strix and in 2020 she was placed third in the Brian Dempsey Memorial Poetry Competition. As Janet Dean Knight she writes fiction and her first novel The Peacemaker was published in 2019.

Our judge, Caroline, commented: - “On Sunday it Might Rain”

This subtle poem explores the process of knowing and ‘not really knowing’ the small things that surround us. Starting with an unhurried exploration of the grass, this whole poem is set in the narrator’s garden. Surely, it speaks to us of the recent lockdown required by the Covid-19 pandemic: the need to stay within a small space, and the opportunities that come when ‘there’s more to know/with less about’. The poem is full of fresh detail such as the ‘little ferns spread/ like fresh green doilies’ under the narrator’s feet, and the ‘overrun of spurge’. The poem gains energy from the actions that the narrator is taking, and the mix of new and recycled objects used. The last two stanzas anticipate a fresh flowering – a vision of what’s to come: the ‘luscious heads of peony’ that will ‘overflow/bleed on the lawn/like spilt wine’, the images conjuring both pain and copious celebration. The final verse declines to tie the poem up neatly, but instead refers back to the title, which anticipates rain after a dry spell. I loved the image of the narrator waiting for the lady’s mantle to ‘hold the raindrops’ in her capes, because it ends the poem with an appreciation of a common plant, depicted through fresh eyes.

Marjory Woodfield

Marjory Woodfield is a New Zealand writer and teacher, who until recently lived in Saudi Arabia. She’s been published by the BBC, Raven Chronicles, The High Window, Flash Frontier, and others. In 2019 she won the Dunedin Robert Burns Poetry Competition and was commended in both the Hippocrates Poetry Award and Proverse Poetry Prize. She’s been anthologised in Pale Fire (Frogmore Press), Best Small Fictions 2019, (Sonder Press) and with one eye on the cows (Bath Flash Fiction Volume Four). Most recently she was long-listed for 2020 Bath Novella-in-Flash competition and the Cinnamon Literature Award. Much of her writing inspiration comes from her life and travel in the Middle East.

Our judge, Caroline, commented: - “Stillness of Pomegranates”

This allusive poem caught my attention for all that it didn’t say. It’s a poem that allows readers to enter the places and incidents described and draw their own conclusions. Its form is interesting, too: 15 lines that make it a sort-of sonnet, with a turn after the first eight lines, beyond which the hints of sorrow and reversals increase. The theme of pomegranates runs throughout, with their delicate sweetness, and their symbolism of both fruition and death. Verse 3 introduces us to a list of the riches picked in the Banias nature reserve, with the sense of taste evoked through references to ‘Wild raspberries, sumac/ and capers. Ancient almond and pomegranate.’ Verse 4 introduces more sombre themes: the narrator’s companion’s ‘Syrian homeland. Sadness in every/falling phrase,’ and a camera angled ‘in front of Demeter and Persephone’, reminding us of the underworld Persephone must enter each winter. The closing couplet continues the theme of reversal – of things being out of kilter – when we read that ‘She has hung new curtains in my sun porch. The pomegranates are upside down.’ All in all, an elegant and restrained poem.

Dalvinder Ghaly

Dalvinder Ghaly lives and works in London. She completed her MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck University in 2019. She writes fiction short stories, creative non-fiction and is currently working to complete her first novel. As a member of a writing group made up of Birkbeck alumni, she continues to develop new work. She has enjoyed the success of her first publication, a short story inspired by caring for her elderly mother, which won third prize in a creative writing competition run by Carers UK. This led to her exploring the genre of creative non-fiction further and has resulted in the story that won this prize. She is absolutely thrilled at its success as the piece is extremely close to her heart.

Our judge, Jessica, commented: - “Two Rivers”

Moving, evocative and beautiful. Extremely adept use of language conjures up such a strong sense of place and I was completely immersed in the narration. An excellent piece of writing.

Lesley Bungay

Lesley grew up in the North East and now lives in Hampshire with her husband. She works part-time as an advisory teacher for children with special needs. Lesley has dabbled with creative writing since completing a BA (Hons) in English Language and Literature with the Open University. In 2019 she started to take her writing seriously and had short stories published in competition anthologies with Audio Arcadia (An Eclectic Mix Vol.9) and the H.G. Wells Short Story Competition. She was shortlisted with Writing Magazine and longlisted in the Writing Without Restriction category of the Yeovil Literary Prize. She is delighted to improve this year with Second Place and wonders if unconventional writing really is her thing. Now her son and daughter have flown the nest, she has no excuse not to finish that debut novel.

Our judge, Jessica, commented: - “Train Spotting”

Really compelling. The use of emojis at the start was very clever and certainly made me intrigued as to how the story would progress, completely believable dialogue and a well-crafted build-up of anticipation through to a very satisfying conclusion.

Caroline Rose

Born in Cape Town, educated in Dublin and London, and living for a while in America, I am now settled in Somerset. I like it here.

From my earliest memories, I have delighted in stories of all sorts, from legends through to the classics. I read them, and from the moment it was possible, I have written them. Some I have illustrated and am currently working on what, I hope, will be a picture book.

I love cats and working on my allotment.

Our judge, Jessica, commented: - “Summer”

Lovely imagery and very moving. Skilfully conveyed a lot of emotion in a very concise piece of writing.