Winner announced!
We are pleased to announce the winner and runners up of our First Chapter Competition 2010. The winning chapter will be recorded over the next two months and available to listen to from September. WINNER No News But Kindness by Barbara Turner-Vesselago
Our shortlist judge, the author Sophie King, said about No News But Kindness:
"I found this very evocative, both in terms of atmosphere and characterisation. I could picture it like a film - which is something I do when writing myself - and there was potential for lots of things to happen. A journey is always good for this because of the different destinations and characters on route. I loved the subtlety of the writing and the way the author drip-fed information throughout." SECOND PLACE Finding Piya by Dipika Mukherjee Sophie said: "I enjoyed Finding Piya because of the unusual subject matter. We have all read about babies being abandoned but then the story normally moves to someone who finds the abandoned child. In this case, there is fear over what has happened to the baby, coupled with the character's own emotions. We know Arif shouldn't have done what he did but the author has skilfully made us somehow feel a certain empathy for him. We went him to rectify his mistakes but how is he going to do it? This is why we have to keep on reading." THIRD PLACE The Pride of the Peacock by Colin Cossor Sophie said: "The Pride of the Peacock is compulsive reading and has a nice twist. Usually it is a stranger/friend/sister/occasionally mother who is asked to help when children can't have babies - not fathers. I also liked Tom and wanted to know more about him...it haunted me afterwards which is always a good sign." ALSO SHORTLISTED The Queen's Blue Serge by Barrymore Cooper
Phoenix Rising by Celia Kay Andrew
To The Ends of the World by Jenny Barden
Gina Jarvis Jumps the Train by Silvia Sbaraini
The Angel's Singing by Rebecca Camu
Blodeuwedd's Garden by Juliet Greenwood
Amelia and the Virgin by Nicola Harlow
Look out for Sophie King's new book HOW TO WRITE YOUR FIRST NOVEL. It will help you find
good ideas; craft characters; understand how to structure plot; write dynamic
dialogue and much more. Published by How To Books and available on Amazon £11.99.
About the Short Story Radio First Chapter Competition 2010 Writers were invited to submit the first chapter of their novel, of any genre, of no more than 5000 words. Chapters submitted for consideration had to be the first chapter of a completed novel that is either unpublished or was published between 1st December 2009 and 1st June 2010. Published works can have been published by an independent or mainstream publisher, or have been self-published. The winner of the First Chapter Competition 2010 will have a fantastic marketing angle for their book, whether they want to attract new readers to a published novel, or to be able to demonstrate their unpublished book's potential to a prospective agent or publisher. The winning chapter will be recorded and broadcast on the Short Story Radio and Talking Bookshelf websites and podcasts. It will be recorded by a professional actor and will be a high quality production, made to the same standard as the stories already broadcast on Short Story Radio and Talking Bookshelf. The recording will be available for broadcast for a period of 12 months. All entrants, including the winner, will retain the copyright to their chapter/novel.
The winner will also receive a cash prize of £50 (approx. $78 USD or 57 EURO) and a dedicated webpage for their novel on our sister website Talking Bookshelf. |
