Today I was pleased to learn that my story, Hermit 2.0, received a ‘Highly Commended’ in the fiction category of the Somers Paper Nautilus 2018 short story competition.
The theme for this year’s competition was ‘Shell’. I love using themes as a springboard to really think outside the square, so Hermit 2.0 evolved into a dark little slice of dystopian disturbia highlighting a shell of a very different kind.
The judge for the fiction category this year was best-selling crime writer, Garry Disher (eeeep!) and more than anything I’m rapt he really liked my writing. I was also pleased to see several friends included among the winners and honourable mentions (I’m looking at you Louise Zedda-Sampson, Liz Hicklin, and Clementine Rowe)!
Garry Disher made the following comments, “Good stories evoke a sense of place and character, hint at meanings below the surface (Ernest Hemingway’s iceberg analogy), and trace a shift, however subtle, in how the main characters live or understand their lives. That the winning and commended stories achieved this in only 500 words is a considerable achievement.”
The winning stories and highly commended stories will be published in coming editions of Somers Paper Nautilus, so I’ll share the link when it’s available.
You can check all the Winners, Highly Commended and Runners-Up here.
Big congratulations to everyone, and well done to all who entered. Big thanks to the judges, and of course Somers Paper Nautilus for running the competition. I’m looking forward to next year already!
Happy writing, happy reading, and happy days.
Rebecca
Rebecca Fraser: Writing & Moonlighting 