Laura Bell wins Share-A-Story Month Competition

Published: 9 August 2019 at 12:23

Laura Bell

We are pleased to announce that our recent ‘Share a Story’ Month writing competition has been won by Laura Bell, for her story 'Where Are We Going?'

Laura (pictured), who studies on the BA (Hons) English Literature course, received a book token worth £30 for her efforts.

Second place went to Snjohundur by Alex De Lusignan Fan Moniz (MA Creative Writing), and third place to Egging Mr Bowers by Connor Bogunovic (BA (Hons) Writing and English Literature). Congratulations to all three of our winners, and thanks everyone who entered the competition, which was open to all current ARU students.

The winners were selected by author and academic Mick Finlay, who told us:

"I really enjoyed judging this competition. There were some wonderful entries, and all entries had their merits.

"The winner, Where Are We Going?, had a great premise: a young westerner volunteering in Africa who finds they don’t need her help. There’s a terrific sense of location and you get a strong feeling of a person out of place. The ending is chilling.

"Second place was Snjóhundur. This story, set in a snow-bound village somewhere near the Arctic, moves along quickly and is full of beautiful descriptions of an unusual and fascinating world.

"Third place went to Egging Mr Bowers, an evocative story featuring a group of teenage boys out doing mischief. There’s a lovely description of them skate-boarding through suburban streets at night, and an affecting ending.

"It was a close competition, and the other entrants showed strengths in dealing with internal conflict, setting up interesting worlds, and creating a sense of intrigue and tension. It was a privilege reading these stories."

Mick Finlay writes historical crime fiction. His first novel Arrowood was published in 2017 by HQ (Harper Collins) in the UK/Ireland as well as being released in North America and European territories. The sequel, The Murder Pit, was published in 2019 and the third book in the series, Arrowood and the Thames Corpses, will be published in April 2020. Mick also teaches part-time in the Anglia Ruskin University Psychology Department and has published research on political violence, persuasion, and verbal and non-verbal behaviour.