Surprise wins it for writer
The Waverley Words Literary Festival has wrapped up with the announcement of the winners of the short story competition. A cocktail event was held at Gertrude and Alice’s bookstore in Bondi with Mayor Sally Betts awarding the prizes.
Kavita Bedford won first prize for her story The Surprise, an emotional portrait of a man with dementia who must be told each day that his wife has died. Bedford was chosen from 400 entries to be awarded $1000 in prize money.
One of the judges, Caterina Cosgrove said: “Many of the entries showed a high level of literary sophistication, a strong and substantial narrative arch, believable empathetic characters and a satisfying denouement.”
The competition was tight with not much between Bedford and the runner-up, nine-year-old Nechama Basserabie’s story The Stolen Children inspired by a news article she read about the stolen generation.
The event included author talks, poetry readings, panel discussions and a stage performance in the surrounds of the wall-to-wall, floor to ceiling bookshelves inspired by Viennese coffee shops, Moroccan tearooms and Turkish antiquarian bookstores.
Jane Turner, owner of Gertrude & Alice said she is considering making the short story competition an annual event after the great success of this inaugural year.
The festival marked the end of Waverley Council’s 150th birthday celebrations. Other events to mark the sesquicentenary have included a re-enactment of the first meeting of council in the Charing Cross Hotel. The meeting was particularly bipartisan with Mayor Betts pointing to the historical significance of the occasion.
– By Emma James
