29th November 2011
Manchester PhD student wins first prize at literary awards
A PhD researcher at The University of Manchester has scooped first prize in the Flash Fiction category of one of Europe’s most prestigious open literary awards.
Sociologist Becky Tipper published her first creative non-fiction essay in the journal Literary Mama earlier this year.
She caught the eye of author and competition judge A L Kennedy to win The Bridport Prize for her 250 word story entitled Meeting the Lobster.
The competition attracts thousands of entries from the UK and over 80 countries around the world.
Becky Tipper said: “I'm delighted to have won this prize.
“This was the first competition I have entered, so it was a great confidence boost to have A.L. Kennedy choose my story.
“I recently became interested in the idea of 'flash fiction' partly because it is something that I can work on in my spare time while I do my PhD - it's a very manageable size.
“I was intrigued by the challenge of using only a few words to tell a story that is convincing and satisfying.”
A L Kennedy said, “I would like to thank all those who entered the competition for this year’s Bridport Prize.
“This involved writers in making a commitment to a form which is remarkably demanding – short fiction.
“An effective short story, or piece of flash fiction, delivers the impact of a novel in only a few thousand words, or only a few hundred. It is a singularity, a moment of remarkable meeting between reader and writer.
“The flash fiction pieces were extremely penetrating and confident. Becky Tipper’s ‘Meeting the Lobster’ genuinely takes the reader through a journey of increasing emotional identification and the title works well.”
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