UK writer Jennifer Moore wins 2009 Commonwealth Short Story Competition
Jennifer Moore is the overall winner of this year's competition with her entry Table Talk; a witty and poignant conversation about life and death.Table Talk was selected as the best story from the Canada and Europe region and the overall winner. Moore is the first entrant from the United Kingdom to win the overall prize in this prestigious competition.
Moore lives in Devon and has an English degree from the University of Cambridge and a research Masters Degree on witchcraft in English Literature from the University of Strathclyde. Her short fiction and poetry have been published on both sides of the Atlantic. She was shortlisted for the Orange New Voices adult short story prize in 2006 and won the 2006 Divine Poetry competition.
The regional winning entries in the Commonwealth Short Story Competition were The One-Armed Thief by Kachi Ozumba from Nigeria; Debbie's Call by Manasi Subramaniam from India; Shades by Alake Pilgrim from Trinidad and Tobago; and The Colour of Rain by Terri-Anne Green from Australia. Regional winners addressed such contemporary issues as call centres in India, sport in the Caribbean, and drought in Australia. In addition to the overall and regional winners, there are 21 highly commended entries.
The winning stories were selected from over 4,000 entries from almost all countries of the Commonwealth.The choice of stories was made on the basis of merit, originality and voice by an international panel of judges. This panel comprised Canadian short story writer Craig Boyko, English professor Dr Vibha Chauhan from India, New Zealand writer and reviewer Jolisa Gracewood, Dr Eddie Iroh, author and former Director General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, and Nicholas Laughlin, Editor of The Caribbean Review of Books, and a former judge of the Foundation's Commonwealth Writers' Prize.
All 26 stories are available on a CD which will be broadcast widely around the Commonwealth. The actors include some of the finest readers for radio, such as Adjoa Andoh (reading a story from Nigeria), Sudhar Bhuchar (India), Dona Croll (Trinidad and Tobago), Maynard Eziashi (Nigeria), Liz Sutherland (Malaysia) and Nigel Anthony (UK), and talented new-comers Sagar Arya, Darren Hart and Manjeet Mann (Norman Beaton Fellowship winner, 2008). The winning story is read by the young and talented Jessica Raine who since graduating from RADA in 2008 has appeared in David Hare's Gethsemane at the National Theatre in London, Ridley Scott's film Robin Hood and the new television drama Garrow's Law for the BBC.The CD is produced by the award-winning radio producer Amber Barnfather through Goldhawk Essential, winners of last year's Sony Gold Award for Drama.
The competition is an annual scheme to promote new creative writing. Established in 1996, it is funded and managed by the Commonwealth Foundation, with the support of the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association. It aims to increase understanding and appreciation of Commonwealth cultures and to promote rising literary talents. Anyone who is a citizen of a Commonwealth country can enter, whether a professional or amateur writer. Entries can be on any topic, but must be original, unpublished, written in English and no more than 600 words long.
The 2010 competition will open for entry in January 2010.
Click here for more information on this year's winners.
