Winners of Lancaster University writing competition announced

The winners of the Lancaster University 25th Anniversary Short Story and Poetry Competition were announced at a special awards evening on Saturday 21 May. Taking first place in the short story contest was Elizabeth Lockhart from Blackpool, with “Gone”, a poignant glimpse of a family tragedy seen through the eyes of a small boy. The winner of the poetry competition was David Borrott from Ribchester, with “Ultrasound”, which explores the promise of pregnancy.

The competition was organised by the Department of Continuing Education in celebration of 25 years of lifelong learning provision. It was open to any student who had taken a Creative Writing course with the department. There were 353 entries: 207 poems and 146 short stories. There were prizes for the winners of each category, and for the second and third placed entrants.

The judges of the short story competition were George Green, Head of Undergraduate Studies in Creative Writing and author of Hound, and Carol Birch, who has published seven novels to date, with her eighth in the pipeline. They noted that the standard of entry for the short stories was “consistently high”. Local poets Mike Barlow and Jennifer Copley, both with published collections, judged the poetry competition and commented that the entries were “impressively varied”.

For those interested in taking up writing or developing their writing skills, the Department of Continuing Education runs a wide range of courses in both face to face and distance learning formats. Many courses are available on-line, with lots of support available to get you started and help you along the way. The Department is running its annual Creative Writing Celebration Week from 18 – 24 June with a collection of short courses, readings, workshops and writing surgeries for both beginners and experienced writers.

An anthology of the short-listed poems and short stories from the competition is available from the Department of Continuing Education for just £3.99. For details of courses or to obtain a copy of the anthology please call the Department on 01524 592623/4.