Mother Wins Biggest Prize
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=598502005
Mother wins UK's biggest short story competition
DAVID ROBINSON
BOOKS EDITOR
A TALE of corruption in the Far East was last night named as the winner of The Scotsman and Orange Short Story awards - the biggest of its kind in Britain.
Kirstin Zhang, 35, a single mother who lives in Greenock, was presented with the £7,500 award by John McGurk, editor of The Scotsman, at a ceremony in Edinburgh.
Her winning story - which will be published in Saturday’s newspaper - beat 1,300 other entries on the competition’s theme of "Secrets".
The story, The Enemy Within, is about an Indonesian worker whose job is to spray against dengue fever but who is secretly overcharging for the service. But in telling the story of the man’s daily life, Ms Zhang subtly unveils a string of other deceptions, large and small.
Ms Zhang, who was born in England to Scottish parents, said that she based the story on a newspaper article she read last year about how corruption in Indonesia meant that thousands of people had died from dengue fever who could otherwise have been saved.
While to some writers such a subject might seem mildly esoteric, Ms Zhang’s own background is so cosmopolitan that it seems almost normal.
When she was three, her family took her to Papua New Guinea, where they lived for ten years. Although she returned to Scotland, where she took a degree in film and TV studies at Glasgow University, she left to work in Japan soon afterwards.
Back in London, she took a masters degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and married. Her husband’s family were Chinese royalty, and had ruled Manchuria under the last emperor.
Ms Zhang is now divorced, and bringing up their young son in Greenock, where she has lived for the past five years. "I certainly haven’t had a predictable life," she said yesterday. "But the advantage is that it gives me so many more things to draw on for my writing."
Although she has only been writing for three years, Ms Zhang has won the only two competitions she has entered.
Last November, she won a travel writing competition for Radio 4’s Excess Baggage programme, with a story about visiting her husband’s family in Manchuria, first on a midwinter honeymoon and later during the collapse of her marriage.
"Winning this prize is a major thing for me," she said yesterday. "For one thing, it means that I’ll be able to stay in Scotland, as I’d really like to do.
"I would like to do a creative writing course or work part-time somewhere and make writing the focus. I certainly don’t want to regret not having followed things through."
Last night’s awards, at Sandeman House in Edinburgh, also saw the launch of Secrets, the book of the competition, which is edited by Janice Galloway, published by Polygon and features specially commissioned short stories by Jackie Kay, Bernard MacLaverty and Ali Smith. It also contains the best 13 stories entered for the competition.
"One of the reasons short story writing flourishes in Scotland is because of competitions and anthologies like this," said Mr McGurk.
"We’re delighted to be working with Orange to ensure that this continues."
He added that he was particularly delighted that four of the 13 writers in the book and two of the six prize-winners were appearing in print for the first time.
"Once a writer has talent, the next thing they most need is confidence in themselves," he said. "This competition provides both. It shows that there is a huge pool of real writing talent in Scotland and gives those writers the confidence to take their talent even further."
As well as Ms Zhang’s story, the judges singled out for special praise a dark story about childhood discovery by Anne Morrison, from Lairg in Sutherland, which won the £1,000 second prize.
Prizes of £500 each were also won by Nicolas McGregor, from Glenrothes; Frances Watt, from Caldhame, Forfar; Derek Robertson, from Renfrew; and Ewan Gault, from Dollar.
SECRETS OUT ... IN PAPERBACK
THE Enemy Within is one of the 16 stories in Secrets (Polygon, £7.99), a selection of the best entries to The Scotsman and Orange Short Story Award 2005. Edited by Janice Galloway, the collection also includes short stories by Jackie Kay, Bernard MacLaverty and Ali Smith.
Kirstin Zhang’s story won the first prize of £7,500, while runner-up Anne Morrison received £1,000. Awards of £500 were made to Nicolas McGregor, Derek Robertson, Frances Watt and Ewan Gault. Readers can save £2 on the book’s price by calling 0131-667 7799, quoting SCOT05.
Mother wins UK's biggest short story competition
DAVID ROBINSON
BOOKS EDITOR
A TALE of corruption in the Far East was last night named as the winner of The Scotsman and Orange Short Story awards - the biggest of its kind in Britain.
Kirstin Zhang, 35, a single mother who lives in Greenock, was presented with the £7,500 award by John McGurk, editor of The Scotsman, at a ceremony in Edinburgh.
Her winning story - which will be published in Saturday’s newspaper - beat 1,300 other entries on the competition’s theme of "Secrets".
The story, The Enemy Within, is about an Indonesian worker whose job is to spray against dengue fever but who is secretly overcharging for the service. But in telling the story of the man’s daily life, Ms Zhang subtly unveils a string of other deceptions, large and small.
Ms Zhang, who was born in England to Scottish parents, said that she based the story on a newspaper article she read last year about how corruption in Indonesia meant that thousands of people had died from dengue fever who could otherwise have been saved.
While to some writers such a subject might seem mildly esoteric, Ms Zhang’s own background is so cosmopolitan that it seems almost normal.
When she was three, her family took her to Papua New Guinea, where they lived for ten years. Although she returned to Scotland, where she took a degree in film and TV studies at Glasgow University, she left to work in Japan soon afterwards.
Back in London, she took a masters degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and married. Her husband’s family were Chinese royalty, and had ruled Manchuria under the last emperor.
Ms Zhang is now divorced, and bringing up their young son in Greenock, where she has lived for the past five years. "I certainly haven’t had a predictable life," she said yesterday. "But the advantage is that it gives me so many more things to draw on for my writing."
Although she has only been writing for three years, Ms Zhang has won the only two competitions she has entered.
Last November, she won a travel writing competition for Radio 4’s Excess Baggage programme, with a story about visiting her husband’s family in Manchuria, first on a midwinter honeymoon and later during the collapse of her marriage.
"Winning this prize is a major thing for me," she said yesterday. "For one thing, it means that I’ll be able to stay in Scotland, as I’d really like to do.
"I would like to do a creative writing course or work part-time somewhere and make writing the focus. I certainly don’t want to regret not having followed things through."
Last night’s awards, at Sandeman House in Edinburgh, also saw the launch of Secrets, the book of the competition, which is edited by Janice Galloway, published by Polygon and features specially commissioned short stories by Jackie Kay, Bernard MacLaverty and Ali Smith. It also contains the best 13 stories entered for the competition.
"One of the reasons short story writing flourishes in Scotland is because of competitions and anthologies like this," said Mr McGurk.
"We’re delighted to be working with Orange to ensure that this continues."
He added that he was particularly delighted that four of the 13 writers in the book and two of the six prize-winners were appearing in print for the first time.
"Once a writer has talent, the next thing they most need is confidence in themselves," he said. "This competition provides both. It shows that there is a huge pool of real writing talent in Scotland and gives those writers the confidence to take their talent even further."
As well as Ms Zhang’s story, the judges singled out for special praise a dark story about childhood discovery by Anne Morrison, from Lairg in Sutherland, which won the £1,000 second prize.
Prizes of £500 each were also won by Nicolas McGregor, from Glenrothes; Frances Watt, from Caldhame, Forfar; Derek Robertson, from Renfrew; and Ewan Gault, from Dollar.
SECRETS OUT ... IN PAPERBACK
THE Enemy Within is one of the 16 stories in Secrets (Polygon, £7.99), a selection of the best entries to The Scotsman and Orange Short Story Award 2005. Edited by Janice Galloway, the collection also includes short stories by Jackie Kay, Bernard MacLaverty and Ali Smith.
Kirstin Zhang’s story won the first prize of £7,500, while runner-up Anne Morrison received £1,000. Awards of £500 were made to Nicolas McGregor, Derek Robertson, Frances Watt and Ewan Gault. Readers can save £2 on the book’s price by calling 0131-667 7799, quoting SCOT05.
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