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2012 ONE-ACT-PLAY COMPETITION The judge for our annual one-act-play competition will once
again be the award-winning Spanish film maker David Casals-Roma. David is a screen writer, film producer and lecturer. Scripts for a one-act
play (of less than 10 minutes) should be e-mailed directly to David by 24th
January so that he can judge them in advance (his email address will be sent
to all members). The plays will be
performed and the winner announced at the Circle meeting on 21st. February. |
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Hallowe’en short story competition 2011 Up to 1,000 words on the theme of Fireworks or Hallowe’en. …and the winner was Neil,
second was Les 1 and third was Chris. Read Dick’s write-up: HALLOWEEN
TALES IN THE DARK |
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Short Story
Competition 2011 Once again we are proud to have Iain Pattison - author,
journalist and creative writing tutor to judge our short story competition. There was no set theme, but members were asked to choose one
of the following object as a peg for their story: «
a big fluffy toy rabbit «
a riding hat/helmet «
a belly-dancer’s bra «
a page of ‘lonely hearts’ adverts «
a screwdriver «
a map Ian chose as the winner Under
the Clock by Colin Ferguson;
runner-up was Love
Never Dies by Dick Sawdon
Smith and in joint third place
were the Tale of Two Bears by Jerry
Robinson and More than Meets the
Eye by Chris Mundy. Click here
for Dick’s write-up… |
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The Arthur Redway Memorial Competition 2011 This year’s competition in memory of Arthur was not limited to
gothic content – it was simply for the best short story or poem. The winners were: 1st Chris Mundy: The Runes of Rohenna 2nd Neil Somerville: Shhh 3rd Sally Johnson: The Touch Read all the entries by clicking here |
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2011 ONE-ACT-PLAY COMPETITION Our annual one-act-play competition was again judged by David Casals, the Spanish film maker. This year’s winners are: 1 Barbara with A spell in a cell 2 Gerry with Death on Mount Olympus |
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Hallowe’en competition 2010 We’re coming up to Halloween again. So suppose we concentrate on balls - and
before we get any funny ideas – it could be a football, a cricket ball,
tennis ball – or any sort of sporty ball. Maybe it could be a ball room, ball gown,
ball of wool, ball of fire, or even one of those glass balls you shake to see
a ‘snow’ scene. A snowball! Then there’s eyeball – we’re tending to get creepier now. Ball and Socket… socket to ‘em
writers! Ball-boy, ball-bearing, ball-point, ball-game.
Just keep the ball rolling. Now what else goes with ball? Ball and chain of course, which
brings us to chain gang, where a group of prisoners are chained together to
prevent them escaping. Then there are silver chains, gold chains,
chain letters, chain stores, chain reactions, chain smokers, chain saws. See what you make of ball and chain. You can focus on ball or chain – or both –
give your imagination free rein. The attached article may help to give you some
ideas.
1st Joyce with "A Witches
Tale" 2nd Neil with “Chain” 3rd Les. W with “You Are Better Than This” |
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The Arthur Redway
Memorial Competition 2010 This is the second year of our annual competition in memory of
Arthur for the best gothic short story or poem. The competition is open to all members, whether you attend the
meetings or not!. Stories must be no more than 1500 words, poems no more than
40 lines. The entries will be posted (anonymously) on the website for
all members to read – and so that all can vote. You can vote either by e-mail to Elizabeth,
naming your 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices - or on
the prize-giving night (27th April). The trophy, a cut glass vase, will be held by the winner for a
year and thanks to a generous legacy from Arthur, there will be small cash
prizes for the first three years of the competition. First prize:
£25, second: £15 and third £10. Deadline for entries is 30th. March Read all the the entries by clicking here. |
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2010 ONE-ACT-PLAY COMPETITION
Photo by Adrian. |
Our annual one-act-play competition was again judged by David
Casals, the Spanish film maker. Although David has now moved his
operations to France, he read all the scripts and sent back his comments to
all entrants and his choice of winners. In first place he chose “Out
of the Zone” by Dick Sawdon
Smith, which shows the reactions when a young West German man takes his girl
friend who had formerly lived in the German Democratic Republic, home to meet
his parents. This situation, David said, could perfectly be a reality
in Germany nowadays. In second place he chose “Taken In” by Jan
Sprenger, a story of two not very bright young women who are taken in by a
couple of doubtful strangers. David called it realistic with suspense
and well-drafted characters. In third place was “The Gift” by Mary Pooley
about a couple parted for ten years who are drawn together by a serious
accident to their daughter. Very subtle and well written, touching and
romantic were amongst David's comments. |
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There were thirteen entries for the 2009 Halloween/Bonfire short
story competition. The winners were decided as usual by the votes of members
present on the evening. First prize went to Les 2 with “No
Tricks, No Treats”, second to Chris with “Not
the Ghost of an Idea” and third to Joyce with “Jenny” |
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Short Story Competition 2009 - judged by Iain Pattison. The winner, Dear
Sir by Nick Cross, took the form of a reply by a haughty upper
class historical romantic novelist to a request from a decidedly working
class would-be author, for assistance with his work. ‘Ingenious and
hilarious,’ was how the judge described it, with the comment, ‘I wished I had
written it.’ The runner-up Time of Trial by Chris Mundy
couldn’t have been more different involving the intrigues and tensions of
religious persecution and conspiracy in the reign of ‘Bloody’ Queen Mary. ‘A
wonderfully measured and crafted yarn brought to life in exacting detail.
Spellbinding’ was the accolade of Iain Pattison. By complete contrast, A
Woman at War by Dick Sawdon Smith was right up-to-date with a
woman army officer caught up in a Taliban explosion in Afghanistan, forcing
her to work with the most insubordinate and chauvinistic soldier under her
command. ‘Tense, tightly plotted, evocative and thrilling,’ was Iain’s view,
‘War of the sexes with a war setting – great writing.’ The Circle thanks Iain for the great trouble he took over all
his critiques. |
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The Arthur Redway Memorial Competition 2009 Starting this year, we are holding an annual competition in
memory of Arthur for the best gothic short story or poem. The trophy, a cut glass vase, will be held by the winner for a
year and thanks to a generous legacy from Arthur, there will be small cash
prizes for the first three years of the competition. First prize:
£25, second: £15 and third £10. The first winner of the trophy was Patricia Pycraft
with her story ‘Love amongst the Gargoyles’ telling the
charming story of a wedding where the bride couldn’t see her mother (or could
she?). Runner-up was ‘An erotic incident at Mandrake Hall’ by Joyce
Robinson, outlining the delights and results of spending an evening with
a phantom. In third-place, a much darker piece by Duncan Howard ‘Dead
Man’s Morn’, giving the last evocative thoughts of a prisoner
condemned to be burnt at the stake. The prizes were presented by Kathryn Redway, Arthur’s widow – click here for a
brief report by Dick. Click here
to read all the entries. |
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2009 ONE-ACT-PLAY COMPETITION The judge for our annual one-act-play competition was once
again Spanish film maker David Casals-Roma. David congratulated
the authors on another high standard of entries and said that although he had
selected winners, in was only his view and in cases like this there were no
losers. He awarded first place to Mary Pooley for ‘Is
There Anybody There?’ in which a man going for an interview for
a job finds himself being unwittingly interviewed by the boss in the waiting
room. Runner-up was Dick Sawdon Smith whose play ‘Football
Match Making’ tells how a plan by a sister to find a
girlfriend for her brother, goes astray when the two leave the dinner party
she had arranged and disappear to a football match. Or did it? In third place was ‘Dear Octopus’ by Les
Cooper, where a couple planning the wedding ceremony have second thoughts
about getting married when her estranged parents arrive to help with the
arrangements. |
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© Thames Valley Writers' Circle |
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