Thames Valley Writers' Circle -
Competitions
The Circle holds its own internal competitions from time to
time… |
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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 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
– please send your entry to: Webmaster
(or deliver by hand or post to Elizabeth). Read
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. (Click on a title to read the play!) |
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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”
(click here to read it) second to Chris with “Not the Ghost of an Idea” (click
here to read it) 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.’ (Click here to read 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.’ (Click here to read it.) 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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Twelve members entered this years Halloween/Guy Fawkes short story competition. The winners were
decided as usual by the votes of members present on the evening of the
readings. Barbara
Smith was
voted the over all winner with ‘The
Passing of Penelope Catgut’, second
was Les Williams with ‘A Halo
in Halloween’, next
came Alex Craggs with his poem ‘The Green Hairy Hand’, and Les Cooper took the final
prize with ‘Forget me Not’ |
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The ‘story in a hundred words’ competition in
July 2008 was won by Adrian with “Confession” (click here to read it), second was Jo with “Suspicious Character,” (click here to read it), and Alex was third with “Patrick Burgers” (click here to read it). |
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Short Story Competition judged by Iain Pattison on May 13th. 2008:
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Our annual 2008 One-Act-Play
Competition was judged again by award winning Spanish video maker, David
Casals-Roma. He made his judgements after prior reading all the plays as well as seeing them ‘enacted’ on the evening. |
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He awarded first place to ‘It’s all for Charity’
by Adrian Faulkner which humorously tells how a charity is called to
account after exaggerating its fundraising efforts in the name of
marketing. Runner-up was Jan Sprenger
with ‘Romantic Hero’ in which a romantic novelist goes on a
blind date to overcome her writer’s block with surprising results. Third place was taken by Dick Sawdon
Smith whose play ‘Family Crisis’ tells how a 1930s debutant
fools her father into paying for two years in Italy, by pretending to be
engaged to a stable hand. The photo shows the winners with David Casals-Roma centre, Photo by Dick Sawdon Smith |
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The
Optional Homework to write an article on any subject
attracted 12 members to read their entries at the meeting on 24th April
2007. Topics were very varied, ranging from ‘The History of Lavatories'
to 'Exotic Aberystwyth', from ‘Canoeists v Anglers’ to ‘Carry-On Movies’. |
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The
January 2008 optional homework for members had to include the
following words: rubber gloves, lawnmower, gift tag, stilton cheese,
lampshade and a foreign coin. |
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Hallowe’en
Competition (a ‘Flash Fiction Frightener’
- a story of less than 500 words, or a poem of up to 40 lines) was won by
Adrian Faulkner with a poem entitled ‘Trick or Treat,’ with Duncan Howard as
runner-up with a short story ‘Dear Prudence’ and taking third prize was Jo
Baker with ‘Night Riders.’ |
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The
Optional Homework for the summer holiday (2007), “The Unwanted Gift”
attracted 19 entries and had to be judged over two weeks. |
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Our
Optional Homework competition in June 2007 attracted another good
entry. Members were set the task of writing a short story not more than
1500 words or a poem not more than 40 lines on the theme 'Be careful what you
wish for' and it had to include the following words chosen at random from an
AA Irish Guide Book - beauty, pagan, stone, many, west, indication. The
winner was Alex Craggs with a poem, or a story in
verse as he would prefer to call it, entitled 'Gryff
gets Fired'. Runner up (again) was Les Cooper with a short story and
third was Barbara Smith also with a short story. Click here to
read Alex's story. |
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The
first prize in the Poetry Competition held on 20th February 2007 was
awarded to Dorothy Winters for her poem “Our Life“
(click here
to read it). Second prize went to Jan Sprenger
and third prize to Les Cooper. |
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On
23rd January 2007, we were delighted to welcome back David Casals, for the third year running, to judge
our annual One-Act Play Competition. David is a screen writer,
film producer and lecturer. The scripts had already been sent to David
so that he had a chance to read through them before seeing them performed by
members of the Circle. |
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©
Thames Valley Writers' Circle |
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