Winner announcement

As a family, the Buckmasters felt they owed a huge debt of gratitude to the wonderfully supportive people at the hospice who gave Henry such dignified and tender care in the last days and hours of his life at home last August. They thought long and hard about ways to help support the hospice whilst remaining at home following government guidance and hit upon the idea of running a short story competition.   Entries for the competition closed and we are delighted to be able to announce the winner of the competition on National Writing Day.

 

Henry Buckmaster

Winner

Edward Lane

Messrs Charon & Sons’

 

“I am so delighted and surprised to have won,” explained Edward, who lives in London but has spent many summers in Suffolk and Aldeburgh.

“I cannot wait to take part in my mentoring session and am so pleased to be a part of a competition which has raised a brilliant sum of money for a more than worthwhile cause.”

 

Runners Up

St George’s Mushrooms – Issy D’Arcy Clark

Flesh and Blood – Sara Keene

And Gazza Misses the final – Ann Hayton

A Mothers Hand – Emma Rhodin

 

Read all of these stories here

 

Highly commended:

A Year In The Life of Albert Bainbridge - Morag Liffen

Above and Beyond - Annie Bovill

Assessment - Jules Lampshire

Deliverance - Sadie Maskery

Finding Jimmy - Emma Rhodin

Tony and Elizabeth - Richard Munnings

The House of the White Horse - Edward Wise

 

Thank you to everyone who so kindly donated and took part in the Henry Buckmaster Short Story Competition.

 

Lily Buckmaster commented “We have been overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of everyone who has supported the competition, and by the standard of entries we have received. I have read every single entry and had such a fun time doing so.

Some were funny, some sad, some thought-provoking and some hopeful, but the common theme in all of them was how much effort had gone into the writing. It made for a very competitive judging process!”

 

St Elizabeth Hospice would also like to extend their grateful thanks and acknowledge the support given by:

 

East Anglian Daily Times

Charlotte Humphrey, Penguin Random House,

The Judges – Dan Franklin, Harriet Bailey, Elizabeth Young, Lily Buckmaster

The Buckmaster Family

 

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The Judges

Dan Franklin - Suffolk resident Dan is one of the most highly respected publishers in the UK and has recently retired after spending over forty years working for the UK's best publishing houses. In his career he has published and edited, among many others, Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie, Audrey Niffenegger, Helen Macdonald, Roddy Doyle and Bill Bryson.

Harriet Bailey - Harriet has worked at the Aldeburgh Bookshop since 2015 and regularly contributes book reviews to the Aldeburgh Times. She read Classics at university and studied short story writing at UEA. She has lived in Suffolk for most of her life.

Elizabeth Young - Elizabeth is a social scientist who has worked in the NHS, academia and more recently in the not-for-profit sector. Her research interest is in palliative care. She lives near Woodbridge and loves being part of two bookclubs, which has her currently reading The Lost Children Archive by Valerie Luiselli and The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt.

Lily Buckmaster - Lily works in International Sales for Penguin Random House in London. Her family lives near Ipswich in Suffolk. This competition is being held in the memory of her father Henry Buckmaster who passed away in August 2019. St. Elizabeth Hospice helped to look after Henry immaculately in his final days; they made it possible for him to be peacefully at home surrounded by his wife and three daughters when he died.

If you have any questions about the competition please do be in contact with Lily at lilybuckmaster@hotmail.co.uk

More information about the essential work St. Elizabeth Hospice carries out can be found at: https://www.stelizabethhospice.org.uk/

The judging panel will select one overall winner and two runners up.  The judges decision is final.

By submitting an entry to the competition you allow St Elizabeth Hospice the right to publish your short story on our website or in the East Anglian Daily Times should you win the completion or be a runner up.

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