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In case you missed it... here's what happened in our Spring Short Story Competition! Plus all the other news and opportunities from Autumn Voices.

We had two themes to choose from, each offering £150 first prize.  Leader of the pack in the 'Spring' section was Ann Seed, a 67-year old grandmother from Edinburgh whose little grandson Roddy was the inspiration for her story Ruby Springtime, which was told in a child's voice. Judge Leela Soma said "It was a different take on the theme of ‘Spring’ but described the season in an enthralling way.”
First prizewinner in our other section, 'Give Back', was Ken Cohen (65) , a retired executive coach from Dorset.  In his story Legacy, Ken wanted to explore how words from the past have the capacity to speak powerfully and move us some eighty years after they were written. He also wanted to explore the notion of ‘receiving’, as well as ‘giving.”  Our judge especially liked the flow of the story and the author’s handling of a sensitive topic.
Runner-up in the 'Spring' section was Sarah Farman (65), a writer and visual artist from Ayrshire who's also spent time living in France, England and the USA.   She is currently studying for an M.Res in Creative Writing at Strathclyde University.  Sarah's story Releasing The Rock impressed our judge Leela as a "tale of its time....of a feisty woman’s struggle to find her voice and herself in an unhappy relationship." 
Runner-up for the 'Give Back' section was Janet Jones (66) from Somerset, a keen writer of short stories whose work has won several other competitions.  Her story Giving Back was a tale about a torn cheque and a man's personal search for happiness.  Janet's first novel We Are Unknown is available as an e-book HERE
 Winner of our special over 80s section was Patti Landmann (80), a retired business manager from Wisconsin, in the USA.   She has been married to Henry for 58 years and practises wood carving, photography and travel as well as writing.  She enjoys nature, butterflies and birds! 
Finally, our judge Leela Soma picked two more entries which she felt were worthy of commendation - those were the "experimental" Café Spring 2021 by Jill Korn from Ayrshire (65) and "story of mystery" Cover-Up by Irene Cunningham from Glasgow (66).

As Leela said, "I want to thank all the writers who took the time to enter the competition. It is not easy at any age to enter competitions. The effort needed is not to be scoffed at. I congratulate the winners and all the writers for making this an interesting competition to adjudicate. Keep the pens moving, let the words flow. Good luck with your writing." 

You can read all the prizewinning and commended stories on our website HERE, and listen to the writers read extracts from their work!
Our biggest piece of news after the competition results is the formation of our brand new Steering Group - ten lovely ladies and gentlemen who have volunteered to help guide us into the next phase of our development as a SCIO (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation).  They come from varied backgrounds which you can read about HERE, and will meet quarterly to develop the overall strategic direction of the new charity and act as a sounding board for the Autumn Voices paid staff team.

 
There's been quite a bit of new content to read on the Autumn Voices site this last month.  We have answers to our Quick And Quirky Questions from novelist and brand new Steering Group members Mark Daws and  Angelena Boden, as well as blogs on our July theme R for Relax from freelance writer Lee Randall and poets John Burns and Eleanor LivingstoneAnd the first guest blog from writer Diana Hendry has just gone up on the subject of S for Sleep - or rather the lack of it!
If you have a piece of unpublished flash fiction of 250 words or less, you could win £1000 by entering it for the Edinburgh Award for Flash Fiction from The Scottish Arts Trust, judged by novelists, Zoë Strachan and Louise Welsh. Although the award is open to writers worldwide, if you're resident in Scotland it will also be entered for The Golden Hare Award which commands a first prize of £300. Closing date for both awards is 31 August 2021, and all the details are HERE.
AND FINALLY.....our very last #CLANGERS theme is S for Sleep. So submit your flash submissions by the end of August via our website HERE. We want your thoughts on absolutely anything connected with sleep - how you feel about it, how it affects your life, how to make sure you get enough....whatever inspires you to write a short mini-blog of 200 words or less.   

Meanwhile, if you haven't already, do catch up with July's CLANGERS on R for Relax - they're HERE to read on our website.  Our members evoke all kinds of relaxing scenarios like rowing on a misty lake, listening to birdsong or grabbing an adult colouring book.
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