Congratulations to writers Slawka G Scarso, Adele Rickerby and Patience Mackarness who won the Signature, Technical and Showstopper challenges set by our May judge-duo, Helen Rye and K. M. Elkes. And a big thank you to everyone who entered. The judges said they were delighted with the standard of entries. We thank them very much for providing highly inventive prompts and a lot of fun.
Each writer wins one anthology of their choice, from those published by Ad HocFiction; a Flash Fiction Festival tote bag; a free entry to Bath Flash Fiction Award, and two free sessions on Jude Higgins’ Tuesday flash class that takes place weekly 1.30-3.30 pm BST. In addition, all the writers will be offered publication in the Flash Fiction Festival Anthology and their stories will be entered into the Winner of Winners £50 cash prize (for each challenge) to be judged and announced in late September.
Ken judged the Signature challenge and chose ‘Last Loaf in Matero’ by Slawca G Scarso. He said this about her story:
“This story edged into the winning spot for its specific sense of place mixed with the ambiguity of what might happen. Ritual and mystery are a good combination – this micro has both.”
Bio for Slawka G Scarso:
Half Italian, half British-Polish, Slawka (pronounced Swafka) G. Scarso works as a copywriter and translator and has published several books on wine in Italy. Her short fiction has appeared in Mslexia, Ellipsis Zine, Necessary Fiction, and Spelk among others. She lives between Rome and Geneva with her husband and her Labrador, Tessa.
Helen and Ken jointly judged the Showstopper challenge, which was won for the second month in a row by Patience Mackarness with her story ‘Flanerie’
They said: “This was a particularly tough decision, but in the end we chose ‘Flanerie’ due to its playfulness and comedic tone, which s seasoned with a hint of underlying sadness and quiet desperation.”
Bio: for Patience Mackarness:
Patience Mackarness discovered flash fiction by accident five years ago, and has been reading and writing flash obsessively ever since. She lives in Brittany. Images and experiences from her time living and working in Portugal, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Liverpool have all found their way into her stories.
Helen judged the Technical challenge and selected ‘Dust to Dust’ by Adele Rickerby. Here are her comments:
“For the technical challenge there were four stories that I thought were great, and I wavered between them for quite some time. I was really impressed with the standard overall in this challenge and I hope the writers of these will send them on to some excellent journals and competitions. I chose ‘Dust to Dust’, in the end, for its cadence and neat combination of gritty realism with lyricism, and the way it all ties together thematically.”
Bio for Adele Rickerby Adele Rickerby only recently discovered flash fiction, but has quickly become enamoured
with the form. She currently lives in beautiful Heidelberg, Germany, a ridiculously long way from her Australian roots and family. She is about to start an MSt in Creative Writing at Cambridge University and is alternately thrilled and terrified. This is the first time Adele Rickerby’s writing will be in print.
The next Great Festival Flash Off Day hosted on Zoom by Festival Director, Jude Higgins, is this Saturday, 26th June. Bookings close today, but any latecomers can contact Jude directly on Jude (at) Flashfictionfestival (dot) com. There will be three more writing challenges with the same great prizes. This time our judge duo setting the challenges is Alison Woodhouse and Damhnait Monaghan.
