Annual Competition Results
We have been graced with some wonderful judges in the past; fiction writers, artists, a poet, librarians and more. This year was a little different – we also felt like we had stepped up a notch in the nervousness stakes, as we were extremely lucky to get the co-owner and Vice Chairman of Tranmere Rovers Football Club, Nicola Palios.
Nicola has worked in the law and financial services industry, as CEO of a multi-national law firm, and as a consultant in acquisitions and disposals within the financial services sector. Nicola reads a huge amount of books annually (over 100), and is partial to Crime fiction, Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner), and says what she enjoys about reading varies from book to book – the characters, the storytelling, prose.
In making her choice, Nicola said she understood how difficult it was to engage the reader and portray the protagonist in the word limit (2000 words), and that she was instantly intrigued by the main character in the winning story – “The Master Potter of Delft“, by Mike Wood.
Congratulations to Mike, who delivered a beautiful tale of a 17th century potter whose creations were also prophesies, and the modern day collector who was desperate to avert the end of the world. Mike wove his fictional protagonist into the real historical city in the Netherlands and a horrendous event known as the Delft Thunderclap, in which a gunpowder store exploded, killing hundreds of people.
As this years competition results, like last years, were delivered on Teams, we did not have the usual ‘handing over the cup’ ceremony. Instead, we took a screenshot of the winner and judge.
Well done, Mike, and many thanks to Nicola for giving her time to our little club and acting as our judge.
#WirralWriters #MaynahLewis #MikeWood #NicolaPalios
Wirral Writers 