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A Good Read! 10 Sep 2018 Preview our latest newsletter, with winners of the short story competition

We asked you to continue a description of someone opening a door and were really impressed by the quality of your responses! Our winning entry is ‘ANXIETY’ by Nigel Pearce which appears in our latest issue as promised.

Our independent judge, Gabriel Schenk, comments...

Nigel has written a piece that continues the tone of the opening segment whilst adding new elements and a twist at the end. Some of the descriptions, such as ‘dirt… crackling with the approach of a train’ are beautifully written, and deftly evoke the setting and feelings of the speaker. I particularly liked his oneiric narrative, bringing the reader into the speaker’s confused and disorientated mind and building to an eventual realisation.

We also have two honourable mentions, available to download below.

  • Santi Ospina (13) demonstrates an expert control of sentence length and vocabulary to heighten and maintain tension. There is also a strong female role – sadly lacking in many other fantasy texts – and an ending that is both funny and rewarding.
  • ‘Psycho’ by Donald Coleman (88) takes the story in an unexpected (but completely fitting) direction and conveys a strong sense of character through pitch-perfect narrative voice and dialogue. Donald is a versatile writer, submitting many other stories as well, each one entirely different.

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