Celia Fournier won the Margaret and Reg Turnill Prize (Under 22) for “Vulture’s Field” and Robert Maslen took the Senior Prize with “Sally Grass”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI4ffkXQkFI…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKECRoPv3og…

Congratulations to Celia, Robert and all our shortlisted authors, whose stories appear in our 2024 anthology “The Fool”. https://amzn.eu/d/gsPR0bJ

Start thinking now for our 2025 competition theme of “The Middle Ground”

The 2024 Award ceremony, including readings from many of our shortlisted authors, is available on our Facebook page.

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• 2023 Margaret and Reg Turnill Prize Winner: Gloria Mesa for Rain Dance
• 2023 Senior Prize Winner: Keltie Zubko for The Last Teardown of Eleanor

The 2023 Anthology of “Motion” is available now on Amazon at:

• Buy “Motion” on Amazon (UK)
•  Buy “Motion” on Amazon (US)
• Elsewhere search on Amazon for “Motion Joyce”

We’re also delighted to announce the theme of the 2024 competition: The Fool. Make of it what you will!

The Award Ceremony was broadcast on our Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/HGWellsShortStoryCompetition “live” and will be available to watch back until the end of 2023. The ceremony started with a presentation by Dr Paul March-Russell on Men Like Gods.

2022 Margaret and Reg Turnill Prize

• Radiyah Nouman reading from Away the Water Drains
• Yuen Tong Law reading from Cast Out of Heaven [reading live]
• Kantaphat Pinaree reading from Elegy for A Machine [reading live]
• Catherine Saunders reading from Figurehead
• Pritha Halder reading from Ladies’ Compartment [reading live]
• Thalia Peterson reading from Pareidolia
• Gloria Mesa reading from Rain Dance by Leyelle [reading live]
• Charlotte Moran reading from The Death of the Ticket Collector [reading live]
• Sarah-Kate Simons reading from The Matchmaker [reading live]
• Allison VanHuysen reading from The Resonance of the Zucchini [reading live]
• Tessa Shutter reading from When a car dies on a deserted road does it make a sound

2023 Senior Prize

• Kerry Ryan reading from A Parcel of Rogues [reading live]
• Steven Jackson reading from A Static Hero [reading live]
• Arthur Neong reading from A Walk in the Park [reading live]
• Jarick Weldon reading from Currents from Cabo Verde
• Katie Rizzo reading from Endless Horizon
• Mary Onions reading from Grounded [reading live]
• Mary Onions reading from Pilgrimage [reading live]
• Keltie Zubko reading from The Last Teardown of Eleanor
• Anna Linstrum reading from Untethered [Unable to read live]
• Ashia Mirza reading from Yahya’s Garden [reading live]

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• 2022 Margaret and Reg Turnill Prize Winner: Amelie Roscoe for Salting the Earth

• 2022 Senior Prize Winner: Stephen O’Reilly for Hibernicus Rising

The 2022 Anthology of Switch is available now on Amazon at:

• https://www.amazon.co.uk/Switch-Liz-Joyce/dp/0995573093/  (UK)

• https://www.amazon.com/Switch-Liz-Joyce/dp/0995573093/  (US)

• Elsewhere search on Amazon for “Switch Joyce”

We’re also delighted to announce the theme of the 2022 competition: Switch. Make of it what you will!

The Award Ceremony was broadcast on our Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/HGWellsShortStoryCompetition “live” and will be available to watch back until the end of 2022. The ceremony started with presentations by two speakers:

• Tony Quarrington on Sandgate as home to HG Wells [Video]

• Lord Boeteng on the Importance of Books [Video]

2022 Margaret and Reg Turnill Prize

• Ginny Martin reading from Binding Switch

• Katie Farrell reading from Discernment

• Winner: Amelie Roscoe reading from Salting the Earth

• Adriana Tihan reading from Switch

• Ryan Lee reading from The Animal Boy

2022 Senior Prize

• Jamie Littlewood reading from (The Tale Of) Mr Motivator [Video]

• Sasha Gill reading from And Then Come the Pixies [Unable to attend]

• David McVey reading from Ben Kingsley Time-warped My Tennis Ball [Reading Live]

• Winner: Stephen O’Reilly reading from Hibernicus Rising [Reading Live]

• Kim A. Bigelow reading from My Refrigerator Won’t Let Me [Reading Live]

• Susannah Rickards reading from Olive Branches [Video]

• Amanda D’Errico reading from The Rehzinin [Video]

• Adrian Paul reading from What Would the Jackmans Do [Reading Live]

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The Winner of the Junior £1,000 Turnill Prize is Tabitha Rubens for “The Invisible Zoo”.

A special £250 award for originality was also awarded to Matilda Stepek for “The Body’s Mistakes”.

The winner of the Senior £500 Grand Prize is Susannah Rickards for “Curiosities of the Eye”.

Thank you to each and every person that entered the 2020 competitions, and congratulations to our winners and all our shortlisted authors, so many of qwhom joined us online at the Award Ceremony this year.

An anthology of the 2020 shortlisted stories will be available to purchase shortly via the HG Wells Short Story Competition website, and we will also publish the two winning stories on the site.

Many of our authors provided us with readings before the event. Those that did so are listed below, while the full awards ceremony, including readings given live at the event, are available on our Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/HGWellsShortStoryCompetition/posts/3517466461666959

HG Wells Short Story Competition Awards Ceremony Readings

2020 Margaret and Reg Turnill Prize

Isabel Burns: The Legend of Evander and Acantha or How the Peacock Butterflies Came to be https://youtu.be/YaiDN6oAXB4

Tabitha Rubens: The Invisible Zoo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUEtGKW3KVw

Dewi Schmidt: The Boy Who Could See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boVOzMSy4wc

Matilda Stepek: The Body’s Mistakes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUqnjYxpr6U

2020 Grand Senior Prize

Elou Carroll: The Great Green Forever https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjhwWK7pRZ8

Alwin George V: Sitaram—The Footreader https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2vq57enoH8

Rhiannon Lewis: The Last Flight of La Librairie d’Afrique du Nord https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dTwC2QWb5E

Susannah Rickards: Curiosities of the Eye https://youtu.be/CRLRkMevSDM

Paul Sherman: Rocket Shed to Heaven https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN1C6c4fr7w

Ali Wilding: The Gift of Sight [Read by Ben Lorenz (www.benlorenz.com)] https://youtu.be/jRYwMhAd5Pk

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We are going to livestream the event to our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/HGWellsShortStoryCompetition

In addition to the presentation by, and live Q&A with, Sarah Anthony there will be also be readings from our shortlisted stories by their authors

All shortlisted authors will receive a copy of this years anthology “Flight” featuring theirstory and ALL shortlisted stories this year. The anthology is also available to purchase.

Our running order for readings will be:

2020 Margaret and Reg Turnill Prize

• Priyadarshini Barua: Murder of Elm [Reading live]
• Hannah Jennison: Can You See Me Now? [Reading live]
• Tesni Penney: A Monochrome World [Reading live]
• Tabitha Rubens: The Invisible Zoo [Video]
• Dewi Schmidt: The Boy Who Could See [Video]
• Matilda Stepek: The Body’s Mistakes [Video]
• Lucy Thynne: Hockney Green [Reading live]

2020 Grand Senior Prize

• Gemma Al-Khayat: The Inconceivable [Reading live]
• Elou Carroll: The Great Green Forever [Video pledged]
• Ian Critchley: Hillman’s Imp [Reading live]
• Matthew Dickens: Afterimages [Reading live]
• Alwin George V: Sitaram—The Footreader [Video]
• Rhiannon Lewis: The Last Flight of La Librairie d’Afrique du Nord [Video]
• Susannah Rickards: Curiosities of the Eye [Video]
• Paul Sherman: Rocket Shed to Heaven [Video]
• Francine van den Berg: God is a Butterfly [Reading live]
• Ali Wilding: The Gift of Sight [Video pledged]

The running order will be Sarah Anthony’s presentation and Q&A, readings from our authors, and then the announcement of the winner of the 2020 Margaret and Reg Turnill Prize and 2020 Grand Senior Prize. We expect to be finished between 1.30 – 2pm.

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Inspired by the ideas of Sandgate resident, H G Wells, this year’s Festival presents one-off events stretching into the wild Romney Marsh, Victorian Tin Tabernacle, 12th century church and seaside fish and chip shop!

This year’s line-up includes Booker Prize-winning author, Ben Okri who explores the role of fiction in these difficult times; actress Imogen Stubbs reads excepts of Jean Rhys’ Wild Sargasso Sea; and The Guardian features writer, Nesrine Malik investigates the stories used to maintain the status quo.

Don’t miss Paul Schrader, streaming in live from Hollywood; and catch actor and Line of Duty star Adrian Dunbar discussing the future legacy of Seamus Heaney here at Quarterhouse.

The God Delusion author, Richard Dawkins, explores the meaning of life and whether or not we should, or need, to believe in God; and actress Greta Scacchi reads Odes by John Keats in a local church.

Take a look inside the brochure and explore themes including Globalisation, Nationalism & Migration and Climate Change & the Environment. Step in The Time Machine and travel back in time to celebrate the Strange Concords of authors and composers past. In a series welcoming international voices without the carbon footprint, via a live link-up, Words from a Wider World extends the possibilities for artists participating in the Festival. Inspired by Wells’ rare ability to capture his thoughts using words, Wells Said acts as a springboard for discussion throughout the Festival.

Click here to flick through the digital brochure, or explore the programme and buy tickets here.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for updates and to find out more about this year’s supporters: Principal Partner, NewsNow; Education Partner, Canterbury Christ Church University; as well as Eurotunnel, Otterpool Park, Folkestone Harbour & Seafront Development Company, Southeastern, and the Friends of the Folkestone Book Festival.

For more info and booking call Box Office on 01303 760750 or click here.

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Norah is an agent at Curtis Brown and represents clients across modern classics, British crime and true-life adventures, including a small but brilliant list of new writers.

Norah said:

“I’m absolutely delighted to be the keynote speaker and prize-presenter in November – it will be an honour to support such a great initiative.”

Norah will also be giving a presentation on how to get yourself professionally published, focusing on attracting the attention of an agent – which is bound to be of great interest, particularly to our younger authors and new writers.

In addition to the prize money, the two prize winners will also be offered a coaching and advice session with Norah.

Entries for this year’s competition close at midnight, Monday 8th July – so there’s still time to enter. This year’s theme is peace and can be in any genre. You can find out all about the competition at hgwellscompetition.com and follow us at https://www.facebook.com/HGWellsShortStoryCompetition/

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H G Wells:

Nostalgia for the Future?

A talk by Paul Allen

Sat 15thJune,2pm till 3.45pm

Paul Allen of the H G Wells Society will explore the tension between the thoughts in Wells’ futuristic work and his nostalgia and love for rural England expressed in his autobiography, social novels and other writings.

There will be references to the Kent and Sussex landscape including local sites all as described by Wells.

Meet at 1.45pm in the Education Room, Folkestone Museum, Town Hall,1-2 Guildhall Street. Folkestone CT20 1 DY

Tickets £4 (£3 for Friends). Includes refreshments. Pay at the door.

Please reserve a place in advance, email: friendsfolkmuseum@gmail.com or contact Folkestone Museum for details.

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This workshop is for local secondary school aged short story writers. Last year’s event, attended by young writers from local schools, was a successful mixture of discussion and group and individual work with useful tips and comments on the 2018 theme. We are looking forward to taking part again this year at the Harvey Grammar School and meeting young aspiring writers.

This event is by invitation only to students at the Harvey Grammar School and Folkestone School for Girls. However there are workshops available to any writer – and free for Under 22s – being held in Folkestone in May and June.

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This workshop will unlock the eerie and the strange in our local environment, the hidden drama of rural names and common expressions. Participants will be provided with tips on how to connect with deep history and re-enchant their surroundings. There will be time to learn, write and share during the workshop. Supporting material, together with details of on-line links, will be provided for post-workshop adventures.

Please bring your pen and paper / tablet / laptop for your own work.

Tickets are free for those 21 and under, and £5 plus Eventbrite fees for those older than 21.

About Gillian Laker

Gillian is a poet and fiction writer. Her work has been published in various anthologies and poetry magazines, on the Guardian website, and in the ezine Datableed. She is a former Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year and runner-up for the flash fiction category of The Brighton Prize. Her latest poetry collection, Curious Voices, was published by Cinnamon Press and nominated for the Michael Marks Award for illustrated poetry.

Gillian is an active member of a number of local writing groups, an experienced judge of writing competitions, and has run poetry and fiction workshops for The Canterbury Festival.

She has a long-term fascination with fairytale and the haunted landscape. Dark Barbies, a poetry sequence inspired by the work of Hans Christian Andersen, was installed in the Filosoffen Art gallery in Odense, Denmark. She is currently researching Germanic forests, fairytale and trauma, in preparation for her first novel.

This workshop will be held at The Grand, The Leas, Folkestone and booking in advance is required, and you can do so online at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fairytale-folklore-and-folk-horror-accessing-the-uncanny-in-the-rural-landscape-short-story-writing-tickets-58665068800

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