From left to right: Bob Hamilton, judge Mike Farren, and winner Alex Wakeman

The brief was quite open, a short story of up to 2,000 words, incorporating a feature from the landscape. There were 25 entries and, judging by those stories read out on the night, of a huge range of style and subject. Our professional judge, Mike Farren, seemed to thoroughly enjoy the task of picking the winning entries, saying that he loved, as a Bradford man, to get all judgy in Leeds! Just over twenty people attended, including many who hadn’t entered, clearly wanting to feast on the nerves.

Thanks Mike, for your time, and also to Alex Offer, for again running a great show on the night and doing some superb impromptu readings on behalf of a couple of members. Most importantly, congratulations to our winner, Alex Wakeman, who was able to take back home the cup he won last year. The rest of us are going to have to up our game to prise it away from him.

First: Alex Wakeman: The Ocean Between Days

Second: Anna Turner: Death Object

Third: Bob Hamilton: The Fifth Element

Highly Commended: Anita Rebecca Dowgill: The Fruit that Fell

Annavation Award: Rachael Thomas: Pendle

Honourable mentions:

Linda Fulton: The Shirley Bassey Tree

Susie Beever: Oyster Shells

Lou Harvey: The Ballad of Ynys Llanddwy