FIRST PRIZE - Annette Keen

SECOND PRIZE - Valerie Kershaw

THIRD PRIZE - Mary McCluskey

FIRST PRIZE - Joel Willans

SECOND PRIZE - Janet Edwards

THIRD PRIZE - Rosemarie Rose

FIRST PRIZE - Fionna Inward Allen

SECOND PRIZE - Deborah Harvey

THIRD PRIZE - Tamsin Forman

2008 was another bumper year for entries. The quality just goes on getting better! All the judges were impressed by the wealth of talent that the competition has revealed. They have been moved, startled and made to burst out laughing at unexpected moments by the work they have read. More than one commented that the prospect at looking at so many entries had been daunting, but by the time decisions had been made they were sorry to have reached the end of the task.

It was our first year for online entries and we were delighted with the way you responded. Well over half the 163 Novel entries were made online, and just over half of the 300 Poems also came in as online entries; the balance tipped slightly in the Short Story category which had just over half of the 318 entries sent in by post. We were very pleased by the way the website entry system worked and are full of gratitude to our Webmaster for interpreting the rather random demands of a group of people totally unfamiliar with the problems of writing code in such a successful way. We will continue offering both postal and online entries in the future.

Many of the entries in the Novel category were well-written but somehow didn't have that spark which made one or two, less perfect in other ways, really linger in the memory. There is a terrible balancing act in writing a novel: you want to produce something that will appeal to publishers and readers but there is a risk of imitating others rather than allowing your own voice to emerge. We see plenty of 'clones' of bestsellers in the bookshops, but we were looking for something more individual from our entrants. The best entries were those in which the writer allowed the length available in a novel to develop character, and balance even the lightest tale with more substantial undertones. The Short Stories covered an impressive range of subjects and styles. The most satisfying stories were those in which we were drawn at once to a place or person in whom we could believe entirely. The 'clever' story, reliant on a final plot twist, is ultimately less satisfying than one where the outcome, however unexpected, fits perfectly with everything that has gone before.

The Poetry ranged from the playful to the poignant. It's a medium in which every word needs to work for its place, every image has to contribute to the whole and be more than a neat conceit. Emotion must be there, but restraint carries more weight than excess. With no words to spare, a title will direct the reader's attention to meanings not immediately apparent. It takes a gifted writer, and the willingness to edit and polish (and even to cut out a favourite line because it simply does not fit), to create a good poem. Some of the entries in this category lacked a sense of the poet's original thought, others tried to be too complicated where simplicity would have said more. A few took on very big themes and did not find room to make them more than superficial. Some of the poems probably had more meaning to their writers than to others: poetry is intensely personal but it needs to find resonance with a wider audience, too, if it is to succeed. The best of the entries were outstanding and Poetry Judge Dr Julian Stannard wrote of the winners, 'What a great pleasure to listen to these three quite different voices'.

For all three categories, it was the discovery of new and exciting and original 'voices' that made judging a pleasure.

the Judging Team