HOME

NEWS

MEMBERSHIP

MEETINGS

CALENDAR

HOMEWORK

COMPETITIONS

PUBLICATIONS

SUCCESSES

LINKS

Thames Valley Writers' Circle - Competitions The Circle holds its own internal competitions from time to time…
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 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd choices - or on the prize-giving night (27^th 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 30^th. March Read all the the entries by clicking here.
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!)
		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”
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.
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.
	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.
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’
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).
Short Story Competition judged by Iain Pattison on May 13^th. 2008:  First prize was won by Neil with “Pride,”  second prize went to Chris with “The Favour of the Gods”  and third prize to Adrian with “The Last of the Coppertops.”
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.
				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, Adrian Faulkner at the rear, Dick Sawdon Smith and Jan Sprenger. Photo by Dick Sawdon Smith
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’. The winner, chosen by the members present, was Neil Somerville for his 'A to Z of Writing Success'.  Runner-up was former journalist, Richard Holdsworth, who in 'The Rise and Fall of Hastings Pier', wrote about the decline of the pier under which he experienced his first kiss as a schoolboy whilst on holiday.  In joint third place were Les Cooper with a humorous account of his hip operation from the time of diagnosis to the pre-op injection and Barbara Smith with 'A Matter of Choice', showing how difficult choices in life can be turned into fictional stories.
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. Fifteen members entered the competition and the winner was Adrian Faulkner with “Professor Rosenkrops and his Quest for Cheese”.  It told how when the professor tried to go back in his time machine to a couple of days before his local shop ran out of cheese, he mistakenly went back hundreds of years and inadvertently led to the discovery of Stilton cheese.  The full story can be read here.  Runner-up was Neil Somerville, whose story “Pride and Sensitivity” was about a scientist who made very little money out of inventing aromas until he found he could empty a jewellers shop with a fake fire and gas smell.  In third place, Duncan Howard related in “Shipwreck” how passengers and crew of a ship wrecked on a tropical island managed to salvage all the items except the lawnmower which was already there.
	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.’
The Optional Homework for the summer holiday (2007), “The Unwanted Gift” attracted 19 entries and had to be judged over two weeks. The winner on 11^th September was Duncan Howard for his short story.  The runners-up were Mary Pooley and Les Cooper.  The winner on 18^th September was Elizabeth Berk (click here to read her story), the runners-up were Dorothy Winters, Nick Telepneff and Joyce Robinson.
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.
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.
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. At the end of the evening David made comments about each play, pointing out it’s strengths.  He awarded first prize to Betty Gibbons, one of our members in Australia, for ‘Lunacy at Lavender Lodge’ second prize went to Gerry Robinson and third prize to Jan Sprenger.
© Thames Valley Writers' Circle