I do a lot of creative writing teaching across northern England and I hear some cracking stuff. Indeed, I hear plenty of publishable stuff - to help such writers reach their audiences was the reason we started our competitions. Every so often, and it is not that often, someone starts reading and the room falls quiet. Time stands still, the air thickens and the reader holds the audience in the palm of their hand. I first saw it done, long before I started teaching, by the great Northern poet Barry MacSweeney at a festival in Lincoln. He held the audience spellbound. I was privileged to know Barry and his early death has left the world of poetry much the poorer. And that night remains a golden memory of a remarkable talent.
Why do I mention this? Well, it can happen with reading stories as well. You read something and from the first line it holds you. The pace is there, the passion, the drama, the imagery, everything.
I have read a couple among our entries to the May Short Story Competition, which runs for a further week until May 31. Should this discourage everyone else who is entering? No, because there is the beauty of it. Every reader, every listener is different. I may have loved it, another may prefer something else. Fiona may pick someone else. That is why we keep turning up winners from our various competitions that are different, innovative and yes, from time to time, the world stops spinning for a moment or two while they tell their story
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