KES Short Story Competition Inspired by Echoes of the Past

Our echoes roll from soul to soul, and grow forever and forever’ – Alfred, Lord Tennyson

2021 has been the year of the echo-chamber. Stuck in our home ‘bubbles’, connected to the world only through our screens, social media and the internet, it has been all too easy to see our own ideas and opinions reflected back to us in the words of others. Easy to live in our own ‘echo-chambers’, not engaging with viewpoints which differed from our own. Fortunately, the young writers of KES have stepped out of their echo-chambers and used fiction to take readers to other worlds, to see our world through new eyes, bursting the bubbles of our echo-chambers, making us ask questions, and questioning ourselves. 

The theme of echoes took our young writers in so many different directions – from stories about echocardiograms, to tales of the Oread Echo from Greek mythology; from fiction that explored echoes of the past and echoes rippling across the ages, to stories of ghostly echoes, psychological echoes, literary echoes.  Our judge, Costa-shortlisted novelist Rachel Heath, was hugely impressed by the standard of writing, particularly praising stories that were well-crafted and simply told.

In the Junior Category (Years7-8) several entries were Highly Commended, including Echoes of Truth by Annabel Howlett: ‘A cautionary tale for truth-seekers here! I liked the mythic quality of this story. The energy built well as the sounds, echoes and whispers began to overwhelm the orphan.’ Deja Vu by Caitlin Street was described by our judge as ‘A very moving story, and a very likeable narrator too. I savoured the details and the moments of real friendship between them, the laughing and Anna’s restaurant order, the way the boy threw his bag on the floor. Super!’ Echoes by Iris Rostom also impressed our judge: ‘I enjoyed your use of a song in this story as a way to remember memories. Your story captures beautifully how memories can be triggered suddenly, and upsettingly, and disorientate us. Well done!’ Finally, Echoes by Esther Looyis, about which our judge commented, ‘Terrified by the idea of people trapped in echoes, and I enjoyed the imaginative and time-bending narrative in this story.’ 

The following entries were awarded Runners-Up prizes. The Minotaur’s Story by Toby Luker also impressed our judge: ‘Some great physical descriptions and writing here. Lovely empathy and imagination – I enjoyed your emphasis and exploration of the human side of the Minotaur before he becomes a bullish monster.’ Finally Echo and Narcissus by Francis West, about which our judge commented, ‘A poignant and lyrical retelling of this Classical tale, with a compelling voice which captures the pain of unrequited love beautifully.’

The Winner of the Junior Category was When the Sun is Gone by Ava Morley, described by our judge as, ‘A very moving and effective exploration of loss and grief. You write well about feeling and captured both the physicality and the numb shock of the narrator very well. I loved that you had illustrated your own story too.’

In our Senior Category, Years12 and 13 showed huge sophistication and flair. Highly Commended entries included La Scelta by Alice Mumford: ‘A well composed and confident story; I enjoyed the descriptions of Florence here, and there was a fun plot to follow too. A good lively tone, and an enjoyable read.’ Also Highly Commended was Somebody’s Son by Ben Blackwell, about which Rachel observed, ‘I loved this confident, well-told story. I enjoyed and thought you handled the dialogue very well; I liked the details about the cigarettes and by telling a lot through dialogue it gave your story a good energy and tension.’ Finally, our judge enjoyed The Bright Young Things of the Twenties by Zara Branigan. ‘This was such a good idea! I loved the central premise of this story and thought there could be fun to be had in ways the post-pandemic BYT’s might be similar and dissimilar. I enjoyed the headiness of this story – and the ending was superb.’

There were two Runners-Up in the Senior Category. It is the Gift by Holly Wright really impressed our judge. ‘I enjoyed the descriptive setting of the natural world in this story, and there was a lovely truthfulness in how the lonely child made company from the river and her imagination. And I, like the woman on the coach, did wonder why a blonde eight year old was travelling alone in Japan!’ She was also full of praise for The Bells of Anarchy by Chris Donovan. ‘An intriguing and unsettling narrative voice in this story – a person who seems to revel in describing the people and the hall in lots of disgusted detail. Given he was a peer of Beckett’s, I was left very interested to know more about this anarchist!’ 

The Winner of the Senior Category was An Old Song, Far Away by Josh Bernald Ross. ‘A very powerful and effective story, which offers no easy answers nor the luxury of the escapist sentimental moment,’ observed our judge. ‘I thought you handled the boy’s relationship with his grandfather with subtlety and understanding, so even if the reader winced at his bleakness you could always understand it too. The central metaphor of the spluttering light in a bus shelter was very good indeed, and poetically held the meaning of the story with poignancy.’

In the Intermediate Category (Years 9-11) the standard was similarly stellar! Highly Commended was awarded to An Echo from the Past by Patrick Hewett: ‘Excellent imaginative and atmospheric world-building in this story. I loved all the detail of where he worked, the urban environment, the zones and the security cameras. You managed these details really well; and there was an intriguing plot too. I very much want to know what happens next, and what she had done to ruin his life and reputation!’ Keeping it in the family, was Two Blue Jewels by Jeremy Hewett, about which our judge observed, ‘There is some very rich and evocative descriptive writing here which built the atmosphere and architecture of the lands very well. I enjoyed the depth and physicality of the nature writing here.’ Also Highly Commended was Mercy of the Lethe by Maddy Bobin: ‘I liked the way you conjured the underworld with some wonderful and vivid descriptions,’ said our judge. ‘Kallisa’s inner world was well represented, and the ending was very powerful.’ Also Highly Commended was Jerry Jiang Echoes of Humanity. ‘This was a well-crafted and atmospheric rendering of the apocalypse,’ commented Rachel. ‘I enjoyed the specificity and accuracy of your writing, and there were some very powerful and mature descriptive passages. You demonstrated the shift of how the figure had become less human through war and technology very well indeed.  Well done!’

Runners-Up in the Intermediate Category included Backscatter by Clem Scotland. Rachel observed, ‘This story had a great opening - and had me immediately interested! I enjoyed the humour of the narrator, and the relationship between the captain and other members of the crew. It was a very entertaining read. You managed to build the evocative dread very simply and very well so that the unexplained strangeness of the narrator’s predicament was wonderfully delivered.’ Our second Runner-Up was The Priory by Anna Winkelmann. ‘I thought you made really good use of the repetitive structure here (something which does work very well in short stories) including the way that each time she visits the bakery, that repetition changed and expanded our understanding. A deceptively simple story but it felt fresh, the right amount strange, and original to read.’ 

The Winner of the Intermediate Category – and also Overall Winner of the KES Short Story Competition 2021 – was Orchard by Elise Withey. ‘I loved reading every well-written minute of this story,’ observed Rachel. ‘It was confident and moving and the use of the second person voice worked very well. Your rich, well-controlled and imaginative language captured loneliness, the seasons and sensuality with balance and sophistication. Drawing character in just a few words isn’t easy to do but you did it wonderfully well here. I also loved that it was set in 1783 but that you had the writerly and narrative good sense not to throw in laboured and unnecessary ‘period detail’ – it was much the stronger for it. Good call! A gorgeous story; congratulations and well done.’

You can read Elise's winning short story here.