Winning writers rewarded

The story of a classroom competition and a young boy’s enthusiastic participation has won first prize in the 2015 Mahurangi Matters Short Story Competition.

The story titled A Question of Bias was written by Bob Sharp of Sandspit.

Judges Lisa Outwin and Lorraine Orman’s comments were as follows:

“This is a well-written, gently humorous story with realistic characters and dialogue: it should appeal to all ages. Set in a country school classroom, the story has a satisfying shape, with a good balance between the various descriptive passages. We particularly liked the clever reveal of the class competition winner at the end.”

The runner-up in the open fiction section was Bo Blazey with his story A Coastal Wonderland.

The judges commented, “This powerful story stood out from the others because of the ominous theme and futuristic setting. Skilful building of tension and revealing of the characters’ back stories have been combined to create a totally believable scenario. We liked the contrast between the idyllic rural setting and the suspense of the plot developments.”

Although the number of entries in the teen section was disappointing, the calibre of entries was high. The winner was Lauren Brebner-Fox for her story Exsanguination.

“The author uses dramatic figurative language to craft a chilling story about death. The reader is taken into the mind of the victim, vividly experiencing the sounds and feelings of a girl suffering the last few minutes of her life. This is a taut and gripping story.”

All three stories will be published in next month’s paper, out on January 13.

All entries will be published at localmatters.co.nz at the same time.

Mahurangi Matters editor Jannette Thompson thanked everyone who took the time and made the effort to enter.

“The high standard of entries shows that there is a great deal of talent in our community,” Jannette says. “If the competition helps encourage and foster local story telling, then it will definitely remain an annual event.”

Entries for next year’s competition will open in June.