The winner of the BFS Short Story Competition 2009 was announced at the British Fantasy Awards at the weekend. Thanks to the reading panel - Pat Barber, Jenny Barber, Jan Coleborn-Edwards, Chris Teague and Ranjna Theaker - for reading all the entries, and to Rhys Hughes, Sarah Pinborough and Chaz Brenchley for judging the finalists.
The shortlisted stories were (in alphabetical order by surname):
- The Tin Box, by Cheryl Alleyne
- The Apocalypse Has Been Good To Us, by Charlotte Bond
- In the Moment, by Elana Gomel
- 17, by Anjanee Sooknah
- Dead Astronauts, by Patrick Whittaker
The winner was Dead Astronauts, by Patrick Whittaker, described by one judge as "the sort of story that demonstrates that the human imagination still is alive and kicking!" Patrick receives £50, a year's membership of the BFS (which includes eight magazines and at least one book), and will be published in a forthcoming BFS journal.
The runner-up was In the Moment, by Elana Gomel. Elana will receive £25 and will be published in a forthcoming journal.
Next year's competition will be open to entries from 1 January 2010.
