'Trading Places' BLT19 Short-Story Competition 2020
We are delighted to announce the winners and share their stories!
A very big THANK YOU to all students who took part in our 2020 short-story competition. We were very impressed by the quality of the writing and the variety of work-related topics chosen.
The short-story competition was called 'Trading Places' and asked entrants to put themselves into one of the many work situations that are described on our BLT19.co.uk website. We had a magnificent response from students who delivered imaginative interpretations of the images, articles and stories from the digitised nineteenth-century magazines promoted on the website.
We loved reading all the stories but drawing up the final shortlist was very difficult with such an array of excellent stories to choose from! However, we were kindly assisted in this happy task by Connie Gallagher, an artist and joint curator of our 2019 Exhibition Keep the Door of My Lips, as well as the award-winning artist Emmanuelle Loiselle whose works featured at the event. The exhibition explored what 'work' means for us today.
All six prize-winning stories are published on BLT19.co.uk and the links can be found below. An online awards ceremony is planned for January 2021. The winners in both age categories also received vouchers to spend: 1st Prize £100; 2nd Prize £75; 3rd Prize £50.
Winners in the 12-15 Years Category
1st Prize
The winner of this age group is Zayd Nadeem, (Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby) whose story The Cost of a Dream was inspired by the Building World magazine and follows the plight of a Bengali migrant worker in Qatar.
2nd Prize
Second prize goes to Cierran Biles (Royal Greenwich Trust School, London) with a story called First Time to Market about a boy's first-ever journey to Smithfield’s meat market during the nineteenth century. The story was prompted by the Meat Trades’ Journal.
3rd Prize
Third prize goes to Harry Jordan (Wells Cathedral School, Wells). His story Away With Discontent was influenced by articles in the British Workman magazine and exposes the pitiful working conditions of a group of nineteenth-century Chimney Sweeps.
Winners in the 16-18 Years Category
1st Prize
The winner of this category is Molly Heron (Morrison’s Academy, Perthshire)whose story The Fray closely follows the experience of a soldier during the Crimean War. Molly was inspired by a short story in the Navy and Army Illustrated magazine.
2nd Prize
Alice Mantle (Invicta Grammar School, Kent) is awarded 2nd prize with her story Cleanliness is Next to Godliness. It was influenced by the British Workman magazine and explores a Victorian woman’s relationship with her husband and God.
3rd Prize
Third prize goes to Jennifer Bürgin (Cantonal School Beromünster, Switzerland) whose story The Man Who Drowned and Swam Again is an account of an alcoholic father and the impact of his drinking on his family. It was inspired by the temperance messages in the British Workman.
All other entrants received a 'certificate of achievement' to confirm their participation in the competition.
CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYBODY WHO ENTERED!
We are planning another short-story competition for 2021 so watch this space! Meanwhile, if you have any ideas to share with us about the themes of the next competition or you have any questions please contact us at blt19@greenwich.ac.uk
About Our BLT19 Literature Project
Our BLT19 literature project - its longer title is 'Business, Labour, Trade and Temperance and 19th-Century Periodicals' - is fascinated by the origins of how we think about work, because, by understanding the history of the stories we tell, we can imagine – and perhaps work towards – alternatives. The project's website BLT19.co.uk features some of the Victorian magazines focused on work.
Dr Andrew King, FRSA
Professor of English Literature and Literary Studies, University of Greenwich
https://www.gre.ac.uk/people/rep/fach/andrew-king
Dr Deborah Canavan, Research Fellow, BLT19 University of Greenwich
Are you worried (or just curious) about what comes after school or college – the world of work?
What is "work" anyway? What does it mean to have a job?
This seems an especially important question to ask now that the Covid-19 pandemic has sent shockwaves across the globe, abruptly and dramatically changing how we live and work.
At BLT19, a literature project at the University of Greenwich, we are fascinated by the origins of how we think about work, because, by understanding the history of the stories we tell, we can imagine – and perhaps work towards – alternatives.
If today we watch stories based in the workplace, and those of us lucky enough to have a job have manuals and guides that tell us how to do our jobs, the Victorians had magazines – the Building World for builders, the Law Times for lawyers, the Meat Trades Journal for butchers, the Baker and Confectioner, the Stationary Trade Review for newsagents and stationers, the British Workman and the British Workwoman.
We have set up the BLT19.co.uk website to feature some of the Victorian magazines focused on work. Many of them ran stories that illustrated how we should behave at work.
We want to know what stories you can tell in reaction to what these magazines say and so we've set up this competition. Take a look around the the BLT19.co.uk website. Browse through the periodicals (magazines), the blogs, and the image galleries for inspiration. Your story doesn't have to be set in Victorian times but you need to tell us what inspired your story from the website.
We've got two categories:
- one competition for ages 12-15 and
- one for ages 16-18.
Each category has three prizes:
- 1st – £100 in vouchers
- 2nd – £75 in vouchers
- 3rd – £50 in vouchers
For winners, there will also be an online award ceremony and you'll be invited to work with an academic to perfect your stories for publication on BLT19.co.uk.
HOW TO ENTER
- If you are aged 12-15, write a short story (1500 words maximum). You don't need to set the story in Victorian times, but you do need to add a short account (200 words maximum) saying what on BLT19.co.uk inspired you and explaining why you decide to write the story as you did. [please note that because you are under 16 years old you will need to ask your parent or guardian to submit the entry on your behalf].
- If you are aged 16-18, write a short story (2000 words maximum). You don't need to set the story in Victorian times, but you do need to add a short account (250 words maximum) saying what on BLT19.co.uk inspired you and explaining why you decide to write the story as you did.
Go to the BLT19 Competition website for full competition details and FAQs: https://www.blt19.co.uk/short-story-competition-2020/.
Submission is now open and you've got until Friday 16 October 2020 to submit your story!
Winners will be announced in November 2020. Good Luck!