Gibraltar Cultural Services (GCS), on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, has this afternoon announced the winners of this year’s Spring Festival Short Story Competition. The overall competition winner was Naomi Duarte (pictured below).

Organised in conjunction with the Gibraltar Chronicle, this very popular annual competition attracted a total of 238 entries across a wide age range, from school children to adults.

The awards were presented by Chief Culture Officer Seamus Byrne on behalf of the Minister for Culture Christian Santos at an awards ceremony held at BOOKgem.

A panel of judges consisting of Melissa Bosano and Josephine Cassaglia judged the competition.

Ms Bosano said it was one of the highlights of her year to judge the competition, adding: “We get such a great response every year and such a great level of writing that the decision is always really difficult.” She urged people to “keep writing”.

The Winners are:

The Ministry of Culture Award – Overall Competition Winner – £1000

Winner: Naomi Duarte with ‘El Cuenco de Castañas’

Best Adult Story in English Language:

Winner (£500): Jaime May Rudder Knight with ‘Vantage of Ruin’

Runner-up: Laura Harper with ‘The Fog’

Best Story in Spanish Language:

Winner (£500): Eugenia Maria Torres García with ‘Antes De Olvidar

Runner-up: Brian Gordon with ‘La Curanderita’

Best Story in Llanito Language:

Winner (£500): Kaylan Escamez with ‘Que Bonito Es La Hora Del Te’

Runner-up: Yvonne Sacarello with ‘Mamaita’

School Years 11 to 13:

Winner: Siena May Lee with ‘Unnoticed’ – Prior Park School

Runner-up: Grace Oxley with ‘The Memory Box’ – Prior Park School

School Years 8 to 10:

Winner: Reuben Carruthers with ‘Roll Call’ – Prior Park School

Runner-up: Miriam Natasha Ramagge with ‘Where Are You?’ – Prior Park School

School Years 6 to 7:

Winner: Helena Baczynska with ‘What Stayed Unsaid’ – Westside School

Runner-up: Eli Brenig with ‘The Fallen Star’ – Gibraltar Boys Secondary School

School Years 4 to 5:

Winner: Hannah Allen with ‘Daydreaming’ – St Joseph’s Upper Primary School

Runner-up: Anna Sofia Medici Serfaty with ‘The Hooded Figure’ – Hebrew Primary School

GCS say they would like to thank the judges, the Gibraltar Chronicle and all participants for their continued support.