Flash fiction winners will soon see stories Spring up on bookmarks
DERBY Book Festival has announced the winners of its 2024 Flash Fiction Writing Competition, which this year was on the subject of ‘Spring’.
The challenge was to write a story of up to fifty words and 562 entries were submitted across four categories. The winning stories will be printed on Festival bookmarks with illustrations by a University of Derby Illustration and Design student.
The winners: Abi Day (18 and over), Grace Etuwewe (12 – 17 years) and Susannah (11s and under) each receive a £50 Waterstones token and framed copy of their illustrated story.
There was also a category for HMP Foston Hall which generated a record number of entries, 27 in total, with the winner being Elizabeth.
The judges also chose Highly Commended stories in each category.
The bookmarks will be available at the Summer Festival, which is funded by the University of Derby and Arts Council England with sponsorship from local businesses, and will be held in venues across the city from May 30 to June 5, 2024.
The winning stories are illustrated by Sama Abu Khalaf, who won a separate competition for University of Derby second year Illustration and Design students, and then printed onto a set of Festival bookmarks which will be available at this year’s festival.
The winning stories were chosen by a panel of three: Sarah Newton, festival trustee and director of Penguin PR agency and former journalist; Simon Heywood, senior lecturer in creative writing at the University of Derby; and previous Flash Fiction winner from 2018, Habiba Rana.
The competition, a key activity since the Festival’s inception in 2015, attracts hundreds of entries each year. Festival chair, Professor Keith McLay, Provost (Learning & Teaching) at the University of Derby, said: “This is just one great example of how the Festival is supporting cultural engagement in our city.”
The full list of winning stories and the two runners-up stories in each category are available on the Festival website.