We’re delighted to announce the winners of the April Great Festival Flash-Off Writing Challenges set by and judged by April’s judge-duo, Karen Jones and Tim Craig. Tim and Karen set some great challenges all with a musical theme and we had a substantial amount of entries in each category for them to choose from. Thank you everyone for entering. And celebration cake for all for giving the challenges a go! Our next challenges on May 29th festival day will be set by K M Elkes and Helen Rye.

The winner of the Signature judged by Karen Jones, where writers had the task of writing a micro from a choice of four titles (all songs) is
‘Teenage Kicks’ “, opening line “Jim Jaminsky’s father’s car smells like the inside of a leather jacket…” by Sara Hills.

Karen said she had a list of stories she really loved but “kept coming back to this one because all the wonderful sensory descriptions really took me into the scene and the era. I could relate to the character and I loved the last line.”

Sara wins a prize bundle and an offer of publication in our Festival Anthology.

Her two honourable mentions are:
‘The Passenger’ by Philip Charter. Begins “A shiny suit…
and ‘Torn’ by Bex (sorry Bex we can’t find your email with your full name. Can you send it us?) Begins ‘I lay Ruby in her cot…”
Both writers will be offered publication in the Festival Anthology sponsored by Ad Hoc Fiction.

The Winner of the Technical challenge judged by Tim Craig, where writers had to write a story completely in dialogue about a meeting with a singer is
Alexis Wolfe with her story ‘Prince and the Hip Replacement Surgery’.

Tim said this was “A perfectly prepared dish of delicious dialogue peppered with puns, knowingly cheesy with a humourous base that remained throughout”.
Alexis also receives a prize bundle and an offer of publication in the anthology.

Honourable mentions to Gina Headdon for Blown Glass Birds (featuring Leonard Cohen) and Sudha Balagopal for ‘Macarthur Park (starring Donna Summer).
Both offered publication in our Festival Anthology.

The winner of the Showstopper Challenge judged jointly by Karen and Tim for a tryptich story which involved a least favourite food, the author’s name and the title of a song you love or hate is:
‘Bacalhau’ by Patience Mackarness

Karen said: “The three pieces fit together perfectly and I love the ending”.
Tim said: “I like the smoky exotic flavour of the story, the erotic promise, the spicy hint of danger in the (unspecified teacher/pupil relationship and especially the perfectly cooked ending, which is served with a generous dollop of humour.”

Patience receives a prize bundle and and offer of publication in the Festival anthology.

Honourable mentions to: Cheryl Markosky for ‘The Last Supper’ and Rosaleen Lynch for ‘Per Procturationem’
Both offered publication in our Festival Anthology.