The Rhys Davies Competition
Penny Simpson wins £1,000 in the
2007 Rhys Davies Short Story Competition
From L to R back row: Michael Thomas, Jamie D’Lima, Bridget Keehan, Huw Lawrence and T J Davies.
Middle Row: Marjorie Wynn and Jo Mazelis
Front Row: Penny Simpson
Penny Simpson was announced by Academi Chief Executive Peter Finch as the 2007 Rhys Davies Short Story Competition winner receiving a prize of £1,000 for Eagle in the Maze. The story follows Jim, a stone mason from Monmouth, commissioned by Lily to design her gravestone. Penny’s first novel The Banquet of Esther Rosenbaum will be published by Alcemi in May 2008 and Penny said ‘I am delighted that my writing has received this boost in the run up to my first novel’s launch’.
The winners of the 2007 Rhys Davies Short Story Competition were announced on Wednesday 6 February over brunch in Brazz restaurant, Cardiff Bay. The equal runners-up in the competition each receiving £100 were: Marjorie Wynn from Conwy, T J Davies from Cardiff, Michael Gordon Thomas from Caerphilly, Huw Lawrence from Aberystwyth, Jo Mazelis from Swansea, Bridget Keehan from Barry, Deborah Kay Davies from Sebastopol and Kate D’Lima from Swansea. For more information on all of the winners click here or use the menu on the right.
Three of the prize-winning stories, including the winner, will be recorded for broadcast on Radio Wales. They will be read by Welsh actors Richard Harrington [BBC’s Bleak House], Torchwood star Eve Miles and Ruth Jones who stars in and co-writes the multi award-winning sitcom Gavin and Stacey.
Each transmission will go out at 6.04 pm on Radio Wales. The broadcast dates are as follows:
Sunday 17 February - Ruth Jones reads White Rabbit by Kate D’Lima
Sunday 24 February – Eve Myles reads Sorry for the Loss by Bridget Keehan
Sunday 2 March – Richard Harrington reads Eagle in the Maze by Penny Simpson
Peter Finch said: ‘Academi and the Rhys Davies Trust have again proved that significant short story talent exists in Wales. With the BBC and others we are now working to keep it at the forefront of Welsh literature.’
An anthology of the winning stories will be published by Cinnamon Press in May 2008 and launched by Academi and the Rhys Davies Trust at the Guardian Hay Festival on the Literature in Wales stand.
Penny Simpson trained as a journalist before winning the Barclays/TMA Theatre Critic of the Year in 1991. Her short stories have appeared in anthologies from Bloomsbury, Tindal Street Press, Honno and Virago. Dogdays (Gomer, 2003) was her debut collection of short fiction and The Banquet of Esther Rosenbaum (Alcemi, 2008) will be her first novel. She currently works as Head of Press at Welsh National Opera.
Click here to read the judges adjudication
To see the photos taken by John Briggs of the ceremony
click here to visit our gallery.
For more information on the
Rhys Davies Short Story Competition contact Academi on:
029 2047 2266 or email post@academi.org
The first Rhys Davies Short Story Competition was held in 1991 and was established to extend interest in the work of the Welsh author Rhys Davies and to promote short fiction writing in Wales.
The Rhys Davies Short Story Competition is administered by Academi and sponsored by the Rhys Davies Trust, a charity which has as its aim the fostering of Welsh Writing in English.