Creative writers in Cheshire East commended

 

A creative writing competition has found that Cheshire East has some of the North West’s best wordsmiths.

Flashback Fiction, part of a Pages Ago history reading promotion, was a writing contest open to anyone living in the region.

Almost 250 people entered the competition. They were asked to weave a historical tale of no more than 500 words. Story settings ranged from ancient Egypt to Victorian workhouses and bomb shelters in the Second World War.

Cheshire East received the highest number of entries, which were of a very high standard and showed creative interpretation of the historical theme.

Councillor Andrew Knowles, Cabinet member with responsibility for health and wellbeing, said: “Pages Ago was a promotion of history reading taking place in public libraries and historic venues across the North West from May to November. The promotion included a varied range of author visits, readers’ days and events with a historical theme, as well as this writing competition.

“History can sometimes be forgotten so I am extremely pleased to see that people are very keen to read about it.

“Cheshire East submitted the most entries across the 23 North West regional authorities and they were all of a very high standard. Congratulations go to our winners and a big thank you to all those who took part.”

Stories, which were submitted at www.time-to-read.co.uk, have been judged locally. The winners will now go forward to be considered for a regional prize.

The overall regional winner will be chosen by Professor Patricia Duncker, author of novels such as Hallucinating Foucault and Miss Webster and Cherif and is professor of contemporary literature at the University of Manchester.

The regional winner will be announced on December 15. The local winners chosen to go forward are:

Over 16: Sally Lowden, Macclesfield, with Silktown Story. A story in a local setting, capturing the landscape. A tale of ambition and lost opportunity, guiding a 21^st century reader back into the past.

Under 16: Harry Green, Cranage, with The Gates of Oblivion. A strong opening to a story set in 1047, marking the beginning of a journey. It makes the heart beat faster and has a contemporary theme which will engage the reader.

Becky Paley, Crewe, highly commended with Forgotten Child. A well-written story with good use of language and excellent imagery, creating a vivid picture that leaves people wanting to know more.

Irene Challender, Bollington, highly commended with Serving Madame. A skillfully-written story, with good character building leading to a shock ending.

Time to Read, a partnership of librarians engaged in reader development in public libraries across the North West, received Arts Council Grants for the Arts lottery funding to support this project.