Judge Fiona Cooper has selected her winners for the May Global Short Story Competition and the £100 first prize goes to a writer from India.
Mr Checkers is written by Gaurav Singha Roy, of Akota, Vadodara, and Fiona says: “I was very impressed by this story and had to re-read it immediately just to see where I had missed the clues! The writer of Mr Checkers has talent and I would love to see more of their work.”
The runner up is Alison Wassell, of St Helens, Merseyside, England, with Let’s Start Again of whose £25-winning story Fiona says: “How wonderful! An understated and powerful story where the human spirit actually triumphs - not in a show-stopping cataclysmic way but with a quiet and determined dignity which every reader can relate to and stand cheering at the satisfying rightness of the ending. A real pleasure.”
The writers on the shortlist are:
Martin McCaw, Walla Walla WA, United States
A C Flory, Warrandyte, Nth Vic, Australia
Amanda O’Callaghan, Brisbane, Australia
Katie Bishop, Surrey, BC, Canada
Paul Maiden, Wolverhampton, England (for The Mark of a Flame)
Steven Jenkins, Llanelli, Carmathenshire, Wales
Emren Meroglu Bogota, Colombia
Winning stories will be posted on www.globalshortstories.net Stories can be entered into the July competition at the same address. The monthly competition is run by Certys Limited, which is based in Darlington, County Durhasm, England