The results are in for the children's fiction/poetry competition...

Thank you to the dozens of writers who entered this competition. The standard was very high, and we enjoyed reading each and every entry. The two judges – Nicole Williams and Kate Bond – eventually managed to choose the winners and runners up for each category, and here they are:

Short Story Competition:

  • First - Playing Out by Sue Shaw
  • Second - Scrumping by Pat Spear
  • Third - Trapped by Gina Lancaster
Runners up in no particular order: The Pier by David Thomas, A Boy's Hope Fulfilled by Chris Kingshott, What an Egg-Citing Day by Pat Spear, The Holiday, The Day of the Theory by Ted Carter, The Woods by Maria Newman,

Poetry Competition:

  • First - Summer in the Park by Shirley Elmokadem
  • Second - The Northern Lights in Summer by Don Nixon
  • Third - My Mother's Garden by Danica Green
Runners up in no particular order: Life by Richard Leach, The Tale of Basil Moth by Sue Wise, Summer Solstice by Marie Perring, The Cuddywifter by Jennifer Yates, My Infinite Orchestra by Finbarr Hanley, Beach Life by Richard Leach


Huge congratulations to everyone who took part. Contracts will be sent out soon...



NEW Short Story Competition: Fiction for children

We are running a FREE TO ENTER short story competition. Winning entries will be printed in a book that will be published before Summer 2011 and will be available to buy on Amazon and from our site. The winners will share the royalties.


Competition guidelines:

  • The short story must be no longer than 2000 words.
  • The theme is children's summer stories (age range 7 - 11)
  • No explicit or offensive material
  • The winners will be ranked first, second and third, then six runners up.
  • THIS COMPETITION IS FREE TO ENTER!
  • Please submit entries clearly marked 'Short Story Competition' to artilleryofwords@hotmail.co.uk
  • Closing date is: 10th March 2011
  • Winners will be announced on this site on 10th April 2011

NEW Poetry Competition: Poetry for children

We are running a FREE TO ENTER poetry competition. The winning entries will be printed together in a book that will be published in time for Summer 2011 and will be available to buy from Amazon and from our site. The winners will share the royalties.


Competition guidelines:

  • The theme is children's summer poems (age range 7 - 11)
  • No explicit or offensive material.
  • The winners will be ranked first, second and third, then six runners up.
  • THIS COMPETITION IS FREE TO ENTER!
  • Please submit entries clearly marked 'Poetry Competition' to artilleryofwords@hotmail.co.uk
  • Closing date is: 10th March 2011
  • Winners will be announced on this site on 10th April 2011
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At last, the results are in!




We just wanted to say a huge thank you to the 136 writers who entered either The Artillery of Words short story and/or poetry competition. The literary standard was extremely high, and we were humbled to receive such a wealth of creative talent. The two judges – Nicole Williams and Kate Bond – eventually managed to choose three winners and twelve runners up for each category. The winning entries were ones that simply stood out because of their form, content, technical skill and originality. 



The Winners of the Short Story Competition (along the theme of Winter) are:

·         First: A Winter Folly by Maureen Dutton

·         Second: A Child’s Christmas by Gina Lancaster

·         Third: Basil and Andy’s Arctic Adventure by Patricia Spear

 

The Short Story Competition Runners Up Are Listed In No Particular Order:

·         Sugared Lips by Andrew Kearsey

·         Winter by Gary Hall

·         Writing in Ice by Wendy Reakes

·         White Lie by Wendy Reakes

·         Untitled by Ellie Pierce

·         Winter Wonderland? by Mary Hodges

·         Seven Pence Piece by Dave Clark

·         Winter Damage by Patsy Collins

·         Wrapped in Cotton Wool by Sarah Evans

·         Cold Comfort by Mandy James

·         A & E Accident and Enchantment by Maria Newman

·         A Wonderful Winter by Marie Perring

 

The Winners of the Poetry Competition (along the theme of Celebration) are:

·         First: A Pantoum Celebration of a Swinging Retirement by Don Nixon

·         Second: The Race by Shirley Elmokadem

·         Third: Communion by Fred McIlmoyle

 

The Poetry Competition Runners Up Are Listed In No Particular Order:

·         The Fifth Season by Ruth Arnison

·         Felicitations by Sherrie Talgeri           

·         A Brand New Life by Martin Webster

·         The Birthday Party by Richard Leach

·         losing boys, finding men by Helen Bowell

·         Fireworks  by Bryony Harrower

·         A Wedding by Gillian Craig

·         Quite Enjoyable by Finbarr Hanley

·         Avril's Wake by Janina Aza Karpinska

·         Sad Celebration by Phil Howard

·         You Were in the Park by Emeline Kaounga

·         Small Joys by Mary Hodges              

A HUGE congratulations to all winners, runners up and those who took part. All the entries named above will be published in a book titled Mulled Words: A Winter Anthology that will be available to buy on Amazon and from our site (hopefully before Christmas).

There were also several highly commended entries that did not quite make it into the winners or runners up lists, and we will be contacting the writers of these in due course.