2010 Franco-British Council short story prize

This is now the third year that Prospect has collaborated with the Franco-British Council on its annual prize for short fiction about France, and it was my pleasure this year to sit on the panel of judges choosing a winner in the two categories: secondary schools and undergraduates. The jury, made up of myself, Baroness Joyce Quin, Boyd Tonkin of the Independent and Ann Kenrick of the Franco British Council, met at the House of Lords recently to decide the winners. Other jury member Bonnie Greer was unable to attend the meeting but had sent her opinions in advance.

You can read all the winners in the 16-18 category here. We unanimously awarded first prize to "Boulogne Blood" by Lewis Bertenshaw: a story that was rated highly by everyone and that, as Boyd put it, "engaged with the present in an immediate and very hands-on way." Second prize went to the hugely accomplished "The Nose and the Tongue" by Jon Richardson, and 3rd prize to "This Will All be Over as Soon as Spring Arrives" by Kat Spooner. The following entrants were highly commended: Amy Allebone-Salt, Ejemen Asuelimen, Shuxin Cai, Olivia Waddell.

You can read all the winners in the 19-25 category here. First among them was "The Bully" by Jack Boardman, a sophisticated story, told with a great control of distance and tone—and a clearly sophisticated insight into what the best short stories can do with simple and potentially conventional narrative ideas. Although he has been published in underground magazines and has already written his first novel, this is the first national prize that Jack has won. Second prize was "The Wasp" by Cordelia Lynn, which exhibited an extremely high quality of writing an observation throughout. In third place was "Creme Brulée" by Polly Akhurst. The following entrants were highly commended: Edward Belleville, Claire Booth, Amy Card.

Many congratulations to all involved. Details of the next competition will be posted on the Council's website soon.