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There was plenty of food for thought for the judges of the popular GDNLIfe short story competition but they didn’t mince their words or chew over their decisions for too long when it came to deciding on the latest monthly winners.
Indian expatriate secretary Pooja Shivram’s powerful piece about the power of love and a teatime treat proved to be the perfect summer sizzler and took the adult section BD25 prize for August for her first ever entry entitled ‘With Love’.
“It’s a sweet short story dealing with a common, highly-relatable situation and the total love of a mother,” said judge Rohini Sunderam, from Bahrain Writers Circle.
The story has already registered more than 2,600 views on Bahrain’s unique social media platform and its success has delighted the Manama resident.
“I am surprised and I am happy at the same time!” said Pooja, 38, who was born and brought up in the kingdom.
“The story is inspired by food being a medium through which mothers show affection and hospitality. When words are difficult then actions speak louder.”
The latest U18 category winner has no such challenges with words as the judges once again chose an offering from prolific teenage wordsmith Tanisha Biswas who can’t stop winning.
“I have won three times before and this is my fourth time,” she said. “Such victories boost my morale and motivate me to write even more stories!
“I really appreciate GDNLife for providing such a great opportunity for me and all the other writers to show our creativity.
“As for my latest story ‘Her Imaginary Friend’, I was inspired by horror stories and mystic folklore to create its ghostly character while one of my friends’ unique ring designs gave me the idea to connect souls with rings.
“I’m grateful towards GDNLife for selecting my story to be the winning choice.”
GDN columnist and judge Chris Fenton, head teacher of the British Primary Department at Al Noor International School, described Tanisha’s offering as ‘an interesting, tense extract that uses short sentences and punctuation skillfully. The pay off at the end took me by surprise as well.”
The 14-year-old Bangladeshi expatriate, who lives in Tubli, has picked up a prize pair of Cineco cinema tickets and attracted more than 3,700 views to her story already.
September entries are still being invited so get writing up to 800 words today!
Register, choose an image, create a title, paste and copy your words in text – and submit to share your work on www.gdnlife.com – clearly stating Adult or U18 entry.
Our panel of judges will also decide on who should walk away with the annual GDNLife Short Story of the Year prize trophies in both categories after the competition’s third anniversary next March.
The winner of the GDNLife People’s Choice Award – the short story that has received the most views and likes – will also be announced.
* Keen writers of all ages are being offered the chance to publish their work on Bahrain’s popular social media platform for a monthly prize. As a result of the contest’s success there is now a special exclusive Short Story section on www.gdnlife.com for visitors to enjoy.
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