Writing success

Congratulations to Faith Oxenbridge for winning the Sunday Star Times short story competition.

You can read her story here

This is what the judge had to say:
Commentary by Carl Nixon, judge of the Open Division of the Sunday Star-Times Short Story Competition. (nb: all stories were judged with the author’s name removed).

As is now usual for this long running and highly regarded competition this year’s entries were numerous and varied. There were more than 600 entries. They came from all over the country and reflected a wide range of ethnic backgrounds; Maori, Pasifika, Asian, and European, in keeping with New Zealand’s multicultural nature. There was also a pleasing diversity in genders, ages, sexual orientation, occupations and incomes of the characters. Stories of New Zealanders abroad added colour and variety. Judging them all was not easy. Here are my choices for the top stories of 2013.

The WINNER: What You Have, by Faith Oxenbridge
On first reading this story immediately struck me as a contender for the top prize. With subsequent rereading the writer’s seemingly effortless artistry became more and more apparent. A story that explores grief and the mental illness of a parent, it is however never bleak or overwrought. What You Have is told in the second person and by using you throughout it draws the reader in and makes them complicit in the events. Although this technique is difficult to sustain the author does not miss a beat. Equally difficult to sustain are the frequent shifts in time between past and present, but once again, they are never jarring, always timely, and in the service of the story. Beautifully controlled use of simile and metaphor and a wry tone in what could have been a depressing tale combine to make What You Have a clear winner.

Well done Faith!