Congratulations
to the winners of the 2014 NFFD competition, announced Sunday at events in
Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington.
FIRST
Islands
and Cities – Sarah Dunn, Nelson
SECOND
With
our eyes closed we begin to dance – Patricia Hanifin, Auckland
THIRD
Just
My Luck – Sue Kingham, Christchurch
Judges this year were Frankie McMillan and Mary McCallum. They spent weeks poring over entries to arrive at the winning stories.
Of the top three selections, they said:
From the outset
we were pretty sure of the first place winner. The story
is almost perfect in its extraordinary and authentic details, what it implies,
its imagery and emotional centre, and the voice of the narrator that hits the
ground running. So much stayed with us after first reading…
This charming second place story, which includes the
cartoon characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy, rises above whimsy in its
depiction of a failing relationship, with a sureness of touch, a strong voice
and a lightness of tone to carry it…
The opening
sentence of the third place story is
almost a complete piece of flash fiction in itself with a whole world painted
on a small canvas. The narrator, keeping out of the way of Mum’s new partner
Rowdy, comes across Jesus standing on a box in the Square. The story is
delightfully irreverent…
For
the complete judges’ remarks here, where you can also
find the list of winners including highly commended authors: Patrick Pink, Brie
Sherow, Elysia Rose Jenson, Maggie Rainey-Smith, Melanie Dixon, Susan Koster
and Jac Jenkins. Also on the site is the Long List.
Congratulations to the NZ Society of Authors Regional Prize Winners this year, too: Maggie Rainey-Smith (Wellington), Patricia Hanifin (Auckland), Sue Kingham (Christchurch) and Jac Jenkins (Northland).
All
winning entries – 20 in all, including long-listed stories – will be published
in a special July issue of Flash
Frontier: An Adventure in Short Fiction.
~
For
more about our two esteemed judges this year, please see a presentation of
their work and a brief discussion of the fine line between poetry and flash
fiction at the Tuesday Poem site, where NFFD
co-ordinator Michelle Elvy points to two poems by the judges as examples of the
way poetry and story-telling comingle on the page.
Frankie McMillan is the author of The
Bag Lady’s Picnic and other stories, and a poetry collection, Dressing
for the Cannibals. In 2005 she was awarded the Creative NZ Todd Bursary. In
2008 and 2009 her work was selected for the Best NZ
Fiction anthologies. Other awards include winner of the New Zealand Poetry
Society International Competition (2009) and the NZ National Flash Fiction
award (2013). This year she is a co- recipient of the Ursula Bethell writing
residency at Canterbury University. Her next book of poetry, There Are
No Horses in Heaven is to be published by CUP in early 2015.
Mary
McCallum is an award-winning
poet and fiction writer with a children’s book Dappled Annie and the
Tigrish newly published by Gecko Press. Her novel, The Blue, was published in 2007,
reprinted twice in 2008 and translated into Hebrew in 2009. The Blue won the New Zealand Society
of Authors Hubert Church Best First Book Award for Fiction and the Readers’
Choice Award at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards. She has won and been
nominated for key awards and bursaries, including the Lillian Ida Smith Award
in 2004. Her fiction and poetry have been published in a variety of literary
journals. She is a freelance writer and tutor, is the co-curator of
online Tuesday
Poem, and has recently started up a niche publisher Mākaro Press. She lives in Wellington with her family.
~
National
Flash Fiction Day 2014 thanks all contributors, sponsors, venue
organisers, compères and guest readers. Thanks to the NFFD committee and our
team of wonderful volunteers.
Enquiries for 2015: nationalflash [at]
gmail [dot] com
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