Wick-based author Kevin has plenty to Crowe about with writing accolade
Author and magazine editor Kevin Crowe talked of his delight at winning second prize in the Federation of Writers Scotland (FWS) annual equinox short story competition.
On Wednesday (January 11), the FWS announced the competition winners at an awards ceremony in the Scottish Poetry Centre, Edinburgh. Kevin, who lives in Wick, won second prize in the short story competition with "Insomnia". The judge, novelist Moira McPartin, said of Kevin's story: "The entry is written in the second person, which is not easy to pull off. The story at first seems innocuous but the tension builds, and the ending has a real punch – it made me gasp."
Kevin, who is editor of the Highlands and Islands LGBT+ magazine UnDividingLines and author of the short story collection No Home In This World (2020, Fly On The Wall Press), said: "It is wonderful to win second place in this prestigious literary award, particularly for a story written in the second person present tense, something that is difficult to do.
"Most stories are written in either the first or third person. But using the second person 'You' makes the reader the story's protagonist and using present tense makes it more immediate – which I hope makes the shocking ending even more dramatic."
The winning entries – in all three of Scotland's indigenous languages – are available in the anthology: Under a Blanket of Mist – Fo Phlaide Ceo which can be downloaded free of charge from: www.federationofwriters.scot/_files/ugd/651d85_0970df231da247e191cdb48882758d23.pdf
Kevin is editor of UnDividingLines, a free monthly online LGBT+ magazine that welcomes local contributors.
