REAL WRITERS SHORT STORY AWARDS 2005

The results of the 2005 Awards, which have grown since their modest beginnings twelve years ago into the leading UK-based short story competition, were announced on Sunday March 26th 2006, at a prizegiving event held in Chesterfield where Real Writers is based.

Alison Grove

Like last year, the final judging panel found it impossible to choose a single winner from the wealth of talent. Joanne Dickinson, editorial director at Time Warner Books, Jane Mays, literary editor of the Daily Mail, and bestselling author Kate Long eventually decided to split the prize money. Alison Grove from Poolewe in the Highlands of Scotland received £2000 for The Travelling Father, a black comedy about the origins of a family secret. Diana Powell from Wiltshire won £500 for Platypus - Dreaming, a love story with a dark edge and atmospheric setting.

Section prizewinners, who all win £100 and the opportunity to submit a novel to Joanne Dickinson at Time Warner Books, were:

• South section:
  Joanna Clement for The Things We Had in Common.
  James Ellis for The Money Launderer's Box of Rubbish.

• London section:
  Chris Barnham for Spiderman's Sister.
  Kate Scott for Details.

• Wales/West section:
  Maggie Bevan for Cinders.
  Diana Powell for Platypus - Dreaming.

• North/Central section:
  Alan Harding for The Bargain
  Andrew Zigmond for Silver and Gold.

• Scotland section:
  Alison Grove for The Travelling Father.

• The Young Writers' Awards for entrants aged under 16 were won by
  Jack Rees for Beyond The Fortress
  Jane Williamson for Parallel Lies

All prizewinning entries are published in the 2005 Awards anthology, price £5, available from Real Writers at P O Box 170, Chesterfield, S40 1FE, or through the website on our publications page.

The 2005 Real Writers Short Story Awards attracted nearly 3000 entrants. The judging panel included leading literary agents, well-known authors and publishers' editors.

Our thanks go to Time Warner Books for sponsoring us for a second year, and also to local newspaper publishers Johnston Press, leading bookshop chain Ottakar's, publishing houses Macmillan, Transworld and Crème de la Crime, and to the Daily Mail for their support over the past five years.

Sadly and with great reluctance, the organisers of the Real Writers Awards have decided that 2005's will be the last. When the Awards began back in 1994 there were few opportunities for short story writers; twelve years later the genre is back in fashion, and new awards and opportunities are springing up on a regular basis. So we feel it's time to hand over the baton to them, and move on to something new. Watch this website for details!

The Real Writers support and appraisal service for aspiring writers is NOT closing down; its experienced team will continue to offer top-quality advice and feedback for as long as there's a demand for it.