Tom says: This was a real challenge! All six short-listed entries are strong in their own ways, with clear voices coming through, and clear concerns powering the writing.

Here are my choices for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place

1st place: The Long Gestation of Madame Foo Foo. This chapter crackles with humour, with lively language injecting the protagonist’s dilemma with a nice balance of lightness, whimsy, and care for the character. The story is absorbing, and left me keen to read on. The dynamic between the protagonist and his mother is richly drawn, and the dialogue is convincing and engaging.

(The Winner, Tracy Maylath is a graduate of the MA in Creative Writing programme at the University of East Anglia, who has had stories shortlisted for the Fish Publishing and Bridport Prize competitions. Her novel was longlisted for the Bridport Prize).

2nd place: King of Bronze. This chapter is immediately absorbing, with rich details rendering the medieval world clearly and convincingly. We see power plays and sorcery, omens and myths, and the sense of an impending war between clans. The scope of the story is vast, but the finely-rendered scenes at the feast bring the characters to life in small and gratifying ways.

3rd place: Story from Baghdad. This chapter features a single historical moment as the fulcrum for a multi-character narrative, deftly woven between different perspectives. The shaving of Saddam Hussein is a great off-kilter opening, and the characters discussing the incident left me wanting to read more. There is a lot of potential in this story.

Short Listed Chapters:

Mandatory Reporting – Jennifer Wilson O’Raghallaigh
The Berlin Songs – Duncan Abel
Story from Baghdad – Gregory Bayer
What a Mother Must Do – Jo Cole
The Long Gestation of Madame Foo Foo – Tracy Maylath
King of Bronze – Katalin Savarra

Long Listed Chapters:
A Dance by Hand  – Linn Hansen
Alterbiography – Reuben Steensen
A Speck of Land – Maxim Raimann
Bargaining with Grace – Allie Lane
Blank Times – Caroline New
Dancing with a Weighted Cane – Michael Fleming
Diet Happy – Ian Plenderleith
Girl Flying – Geraldine Bedell
Left Field – Adele Smith
Letters to Victor – Gavin ODonnel
Like a Gun in Your Mouth – Francesca Capossola
Miss Minnie’s Boarding House – Bonnie Tunick
Paradise Undone – Annie Dawid
Perestroika: An Eye for an Eye….   – João Cerqueira
The Ballad of Billy Lopez’ – Stewart McKay
The Cormorant – Jamie Matson
The Firefly Purse – Sue Sully
The Girl Who Caused World War Two – Pip James
The House of the Swallows – Penny Simpson
The Lusenka Tapes – Jane Labous
The Secret Lives of the Doyenne of Didsbrook..   – Sally Edmondson
The Syrian Pieta’ – Timothy Jay Smith
The Survivors – Susan Mcrae
The War Between Us – Fiona Morgan
This House Disagrees  – John Allen

Congratulations to all the short and long-listed writers, but please remember that personal taste comes into play with competition judging. So many of the entered chapters just missed so if yours didn’t make the lists this time, it might have more of a chance with another competition and a different judge.