Lora Stimson wins our prose competition!

Congratulations to Lora Stimson who has won Words And Women’s second writing competition with her wonderful short story Cornflake Girl.

Lora studied creative writing at Norwich School of Art & Design and UEA. She’s published stories and poems with Nasty Little Press, Unthank Books, Ink, Sweat and Tears and Streetcake Magazine. In 2014 she was mentored by novelist Shelley Harris as part of the WoMentoring scheme. Her first novel, about sex, grief and model villages, currently hides in a drawer but she has higher hopes for her second novel, about twins, which received an Arts Council England grant and is now in its final edit. Lora works as a programme manager for Writers' Centre Norwich and sings with the bands Moonshine Swing Seven and The Ferries. She lives in Norwich with her husband and son.

Lora wins £600 and her winning story will appear in our second anthology Words And Women: Two published by Unthank Books, which will be launched on International Women’s Day, 8^th March, this year.

Our competition was open to women living in the East of England over the age of 16. We asked for prose – fiction or non-fiction – under 2,200 words, and are pleased to say we received 170 scripts from writers based all over the region. The scripts, like last year, covered a variety of subjects: chance, fan fiction, ill health, old age, growing-up, sex, monkeys, writing, mountains, the menopause, Buddhism. They were set not just in this region but all over the world . This year we received more fiction than non-fiction; also many of our winners studied creative writing at university or are currently doing so.

Our guest judge for this year was Sarah Ridgard, author of Seldom Seen. All entries were judged anonymously and the unveiling of the names of the winning writers at the end of the process was very exciting! To quote Sarah: “There was such a diverse and dazzling array of submissions for the competition, it was clear at the outset that the task of judging the winners was going to be a really difficult one. But as the reading got underway, it was a joy it to discover those short stories or works of non fiction that made me sit up a little straighter and demanded to be read, re-read, and then read again. I'm delighted that those writers will have the chance for their work to be published in the anthology and read by many others.” 

Lora is our worthy overall winner. There are also 21 other writers whose scripts will be published in our anthology, along with the 4 pieces of work which have been created for our About project.

Over the next few days Words And Women will be posting photos and short biographies of all of our successful writers. Also Words And Women will be busily editing and shaping the anthology for publication. More news about this will be posted on our blog in due course.

Finally, Words And Women would like to say thank you to everybody who entered the competition. The quality of work was outstanding and very encouraging. 

The winning entries:

FIRST PRIZE OF £600 and PUBLICATION IN WORDS AND WOMEN: TWO  =

Lora Stimson for her short story Cornflake Girl. Lora lives in Norwich, Norfolk. 

PUBLICATION IN WORDS AND WOMEN: TWO =

Tricia Abraham – The Outside Woman – Fiction - (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

Melinda Appleby – Footprints On The Tideline – Creative Non-Fiction - (Eye, Suffolk)

Sarah Baxter – Lucky Lucky Girl –  Fiction - (Colchester, Essex)

Ceridwen Edwards – The Duolitary - Fiction  - (Norwich, Norfolk)

Louise Ells – Push – Fiction - (Milton, Cambridgeshire)

Abby Erwin – The Oversight – Fiction - (Norwich, Norfolk)

Melissa Fu – Mount Sanitas - Creative Non-Fiction - (Haslingfield,Cambridgeshire) 

Hannah Garrard – Did You Eat Lunch? - Creative Non-Fiction – (Norwich, Norfolk)

Hannah Harper -  Camera Black – Fiction - (Norwich, Norfolk)

Caitlin Ingham – The Bridge -  Fiction - (Norwich, Norfolk)

Jane Martin – Falling –  Fiction - (Lowestoft, Suffolk)

Holly McDede – The Game of Love!  -  Fiction - (Norwich, Norfolk)

Anna Metcalfe – The Professor -  Fiction - (Norwich, Norfolk)

Marise Mitchell – Now You See Me  -  Fiction - (Dereham, Norfolk)

Anthea Morrison – You Have What You Want –  Fiction - (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

Patricia Mullin – The Siren -   Fiction - (Syderstone, Norfolk)

Radhika Oberoi – Reporter -   Fiction - (Norwich, Norfolk)

Julianne Pachico – Kurt Cobain’s Son  - Fiction - (Norwich, Norfolk)

Beth Settle – For Dave Garner- Creative Non-Fiction –(Norwich, Norfolk)

Avani Shah - Mira/Meera -   Fiction - (Norwich, Norfolk)

Thea Smiley - Magazines  -   Fiction - (Halesworth, Suffolk)

COMMENDED =

Deborah Arnander – Babies – Fiction -(Norwich, Norfolk)

Jackie Bartlett – Something Big – Fiction -(Saffron Walden, Essex)

Patricia Debney – Multi-storey – Fiction - (Ely, Cambridgeshire)

Molly Morris – How To Break – Fiction -(Norwich, Norfolk)