The 'I Must Be Off' Travel Writing Comp Results!

I was honoured to be asked to judge the I Must Be Off Competition this year. The results have now been announced - see Chris Allen's post below - and I'll be sharing my Judge's Report with you as soon as it's published on the website. (You can read the shortlist here.)

The 2018 I Must Be Off! Travel Writing Competition -- The Results!

Again this year the I Must Be Off! Travel Writing Competition has been a storm of stories from around the world. From the mountains of India to the depths of the oceans, from Mongolia to Maine, you've taken us there--and for this we're grateful. We love being part of your adventures.

This year's judge has been Amanda (Mandy) Huggins, who currently has not one but two short fiction collections out: Brightly Coloured Horses (Chapleton Books) and Separated from the Sea (Retreat West Books). The writers of the three highly commended entries below will receive a copy of Separated from the Sea. Huggins, also an award-winning travel writer, will share her thoughts on the pieces and the competition in her judge's report, which will be published here in September.

Congratulations again to everyone who made the long list and the shortlist. We hope you'll participate in next year's competition.

The Winners of the 2018 I Must Be Off! Travel Writing Competition:

First Place

"My Name is Mai" by J L Hall (Scotland)

Second Place

"Not Your Mother's Travel Porn" by Douglas Weissman (USA)

Highly Commended

"A Fighter in the Waste" by Nolan Janssens (Chile, Belgium, Canada)

"Beyond the Reef" by Brittany Rohm (USA)

"A Peaceful Warzone" by Hannah Elkak (UK, Saudi Arabia)


These five entries will appear at I Must Be Off! in September and October. There is still a Readers' Choice Award to be given, so please comment on and share your favorite pieces.

I must be off,
Christopher

Review of Separated From the Sea on Amazon.com

Separated from the Sea is a collection of short stories set in various locations across the world, including the UK, Europe, Cuba, the USA and Japan. Although some of the stories are geographically by the sea, other kinds of separation are recurring themes: separation from a loved one, from a sense of self, from the past and from reality.
 
Huggins’ ability to suggest as much in the unstated as in the stated is skilful and subtle as she takes us inside the lives of her characters. Her facility with language and narrative allows us, as readers, to experience the full gamut of emotion in each story.

In Already Formed, a woman grieves for the child she lost years ago and imagines him in a little boy she sees at the beach: “He was the colours of the dunes, the sand, the wild flowers, and the wind-blown couch grass. He was the colours of the sea: the water and the white spume beneath the unbroken blue of the sky.”

In To be the Beach a woman is on holiday with her abusive husband: “Lydia wanted to be the beach. Every day the sand had her wrinkles smoothed by the sea, her slate wiped clean, her rubbish swept away. She presented herself anew each morning as though nothing had ever happened there before. As though no dog had ever raced headlong after a ball, leaving untidy paw prints in a skittering arc. As though lovers had never walked hand in hand at the water’s edge, and stooped to pick up shells.”

Michael Secker’s Last Day encapsulates the life of an elderly couple. Michael, who is near retirement, wants a telescope to “discover comets and meteors, stars and planets, the whirl and glitter of the galaxies opening up possibilities to him from the attic window”. His wife, Joy, who has been obsessively tidy and controlling since her miscarriage many years ago and subsequent childlessness, wants him to take an interest in gardening instead. When he dies in an accident she buys a telescope and finally discovers for herself “what Michael had searched for in the limitless sky.”

A common misconception about short stories is that they are ideal for those who want to read something quickly because they have limited time or attention spans. Amanda Huggins’ accomplished collection exemplifies why careful attention should be paid to each story. Each should be read slowly and savoured for its beautiful lyrical language, complex characterisation and wide range of voices. If they are read in this way, each story, no matter how short, will resonate long after the book is finished.

Dr Sandra Arnold
 

                                         Copyright M Huggins

Separated From the Sea Giveaway!

I'm giving away a signed copy of Separated From the Sea on Twitter! Please check out my tweet and simply re-tweet and like to be included in the draw next Sunday (12th).

Find my Twitter page here!