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Last modified: 13 Sep 2023 3:46pm

An open book sitting on a desk in a library with closed books either side

A tale of modern warfare colliding with an infamous World War One battle, and the day of a nurse besieged by strange interactions have won out, as creative Selwyn writers put their skills to the test.

More than 30 writers took part in the Selwyn Libraries’ Adults’ Short Stories competition from 1 June to 31 July where entrants submitted an unpublished story of less than 5000 words.

The competition unearthed several compelling and entertaining writers from within the district Programme and Outreach Lead Trudi Fraser says.
“We were very impressed with the variety and quality of stories entered.”

Nina Atkinson won first prize for her intriguing story, Dragon of the Somme, which followed a British soldier’s diary account of being saved by a 21st century attack helicopter at the WW1 Battle of the Somme.

“The premise of exploring how someone from that period would interpret a piece of modern technology was something I had a lot of fun writing about,” says Nina. “He describes what he saw without knowing what a helicopter is so it’s a really interesting perspective.”

Nina is an avid writer who is currently working on editing the first draft of her debut novel — part of a planned sci-fi series.

Runner-up, Rachel Horne impressed the judges with her creative story of a nurse who finds herself having increasingly odd interactions with her colleagues on her morning shift after taking a sleeping tablet for the first time the night before.
“I wrote the story in the midst of my third burnout during nine years of nursing,” she said. “I drew on common issues nurses face in their day-to-day practice such as high workloads and lack of time — reflected by the relentless ticking of the watch. I wanted to touch on some of these issues in a light-hearted, comical way.”

The competition was judged by a panel of four people from Selwyn’s different libraries, who scored each story based on character, plot, theme, setting, mechanics, and quality.