In December 2022, we launched our annual Flash Fiction competitions, which closed at the end of March. The competitions were open to students in Years 7 to 13, who were tasked with writing a short story of no more than 100 words in French and/or Spanish.
We had an incredible response, with entries coming in from the UK and beyond! In total, we received over 1600 submissions across the two languages!
We would like to thank everyone who entered the competition and commend you all for your hard work and creativity in writing a piece of fiction in a different language. This is a challenging exercise, and a significant achievement – congratulations all!
We are delighted to be able to announce the winners, runners up, and highly commended entries for each language below:
French
Amy Waterworth won the Years 7-9 category, while in the Years 10-11 category, the winner is Emily Yu. Hanan Moyeed won the Years 12-13 category.
The French judging panel were very impressed with all of the stories submitted, commenting:
‘It has been an honour and a delight to judge the entries for the 2023 Flash Fiction competition. With stories of just 100 words, you have shown us the world through the eyes of raindrops, snowflakes, trees, planets, and even a smuggled leg of ham! We read about climate change, flânerie, political and historical events, exile, writer’s block, gender identity, and travelled to other times and worlds. Along the way, we met a life-saving pony, a winter-loving duck, a conscientious cannibal, and many other fascinating characters that ignited our imagination. We would like to thank all participants and congratulate you on producing such wonderfully creative, inspiring, and original texts. Félicitations!’
Spanish
In the Years 7-9 category, the winner is Ava Saunders. Ella Needham won the Years 10-11 category, and the winner of the Years 12-13 category is Freya Nott.
The Spanish judging panel have also been extremely impressed with this year’s entries, and commented the following:
‘We thoroughly enjoyed reading a diverse selection of short stories for this year’s Spanish Flash Fiction competition, and we want to thank all the participants who took the time to submit their entries. The remarkable level of creativity and storytelling ability demonstrated was truly impressive, making the task of selecting just twelve winning entries exceptionally challenging. The winning entries stood out to us for their fresh and inventive approaches, thought-provoking reflections, engaging writing styles, and their ability to explore different and often unusual perspectives.’
For more details on the competition, including runners-up and highly commended entrants, and their stories, see our blog, Adventures on the Bookshelf.
Huge congratulations to everyone who participated!
