Who Do You Think You Are?

By Jane Brownlee

George

By Kryss Forsyth

Home… A Humble Beginning

By Sandra Green

Crossing Over in 1969

By Pat McAleese

Burnout 1994

By Janette Skinner

Apple Blossom Time

By Jeannette Warren

The Reunion

By Sue Gale

Kite Strings

By Rosemary Harle

Sound Effects

By Jill Korn

Freedom

By Julie Malone

The Lesson

By Martine MacCormack

The Bare Peg

By Richard Newman

A Mother's Love - Christin Abbott
My Covid Watchdogs - Rita Allcock
Christmas Shopping - Dee Aolanji
Earthquake - Gerasimos (Makis) Aperghis
A Misunderstanding - Anne Bainbridge
Through a Dark Tunnel - Elaine Beaudro
Dancing at Rattigan's - Denise Beddows
A Brief Glimpse of the Colour Red - Jane Brownlee
Wind of Change - Victoria Carroll
5 Days in June - Vivienne Chell
A Half-hearted Terrorist - Michael Davies
Dansette Days - Stephen Dignall
Botswhere - Jonathan Dunkley
Alexithymia - Susan Flook
The Hundred Thousand Stars - Dominic Fox
Colomendy Camp - Kathleen Fryer
Stand Up Andrew Lang! - Jan Goldman
The Darkest Day - Gaynor Greber
Proposals - Nigel Griffin
Boxed In - Julia Heissig
Escape From Iran - Margaret Huish Davies
Miss Narbury's Utopia - Margaret Issitt
Sea Harles and Boiled Cabbage - Helen Jones

Ikoyi Days - Patricia Kneen
Per Ardua Ad Astra - Laurie Kuhrt
The Man in the Park - Rory Mackenzie
My Time as Head Barman in a Country Hotel - Frank Nunneley
A Fairytale of Life - Sue Osman
We Need Justice in this Country - Linda Powell
Shopping in Paris - Deborah Ratcliffe
A Previous Chapter - Angela Reddaway
A Journey? - Margaret Rey
My Mother's Birthday: The Gift of Grief - Caroline Richards
The Gift - Anna Sawkins
Emptying the Pews - Lorna Searle
A Book, Floating In A Gutter - Linda Sgoluppi
Dying For A Fag - Roger Sharp
Eric - Vicki Sivess
A Memory - Alan Smith
The Wooden Stool - John Stewart
Let It Be - Christine Stormont
Reflections in Time - Patricia Sutcliffe
Travels With Ghosts - John Tomblin
Key Change - June Walsham
Are You Sitting Comfortably? - Hilery Williams
Monsoon Child Under the Lemon Tree - Sandy Wilson
The Sound of Music - Betty Wrigglesworth

Tom's Last Drop - David Benson
Poppies - Lynda Brennan
The Darkness at the Heart of the Village - Audrey Coldron
A Bit of Fun - Freddie Collingwood
Do You Promise Not To Tell? - Helen Cormack
Funny Trousers - Glynis Cousin
On The Chalk - Clarissa Dennison
Another Year On - Jennifer Dover
Turkish Delights - Pamela Duesbury
Revenge is Best Served Cold - Jean Eaton
She Wondered - Marion Foreman
The Guru Beckoned From Afar - Valerie Franklin
Marriage, Mink and Mayhem - Allan Gray
One Last Swim - Louise Green
The Dragon Smiled at Me - Patricia Griffin
Looking For Anne - Rosemary Harle
A Dream Filled With Nightmares Of A Childhood. - Rudiger Heiland
Plus Ca Change - Edward James
Paris '68 - Graham Jameson
Wayne - Chris Jones

The Transitional Object - Patricia Kelly
Family Sunday Lunch - Lin Le Versha
Had your jab yet? - Margaret Mackintosh
Wounds, Wool and Wellies: Nursing stories from Wales - Sue McCready
The Legend of Painterman - Paul Miller
Chance Encounters - Jim Mulligan
A Modern Greek Mystery - Valerie Nunn
Do You Believe In Angels? - Jenny Ochera
Ghost Story - Graham Phythian
A Love Story - John Quinn
Dog Of My Youth - Dorothy Schwarz
Sour Peach, Sweet Onion - Michelle Scowcroft
The Zentry - Ann Seed
Growing Up - Bob Shepherd
Welcome To My World - Ann Tipper
The Indomitable Spirit - Julia Underwood
Capstan Full Strength - Jim Waite
Rupture - Cally Ward
The Exploding Fray Bentos Pie and a Seance - Cheryl Warrillow
In My Mother's Kitchen - Paul Young

Jane Brownlee

Tell us a bit about where you live?

I am originally from Salford, now part of Greater Manchester. Apart from two years living in Canada, I have spent much of my life in the North East of England, mainly in Newcastle upon Tyne. Fifteen years ago I moved to my current home near Sedgefield, a pretty village midway between Durham and Darlington.

Why did you enter the King Lear Prizes?

Serendipity. King Lear Prizes popped up on Facebook and I was intrigued. I had never entered a competition before and this gave me the impetus to complete the piece I was working on. Hence, "Who Do You Think You Are?" was created, submitted and...well...here we are!

What inspired your work?

Last year, unable to make my annual trip to Toronto to visit my sister, and with the outlook for 2021 bleak too, I found myself reminiscing about turning points in my life. Time spent in Canada was one. My daughters encouraged me to write it down and the rest just tumbled out!

Kryss Forsyth

Tell us a bit about where you live?

I live in Minehead, a seaside town in Somerset. I am fortunate that I live on a hill with beautiful views of the town and seaside and we have the woods behind us. I love travelling but I’m always happiest at home in Somerset where I was born and brought up.

Why did you enter the King Lear Prizes?

I have never entered a competition before, but when I read about the King Lear Prizes it appealed to me, (my age for one) and the choice of categories, and the fact that there were no professional requirements to meet.

What inspired your work?

I felt inspired to write about George because it was an unforgettable experience. I thought he was worthy of a tribute, writing the story made me feel that I had honoured his existence and I enjoyed the challenge of writing it.

Sandra Green

Tell us a bit about where you live?

My house sits, comfortably dripping with benign neglect and weighty wisteria, on the edge of a council estate in St. Agnes, Cornwall. The villagers come from all walks of life and rub along happily despite differences in wealth, education and age. It’s a kind and friendly place, a haven in these troubled times, with breathtaking views and vast skies. A different place entirely from my ‘humble beginning.’

Why did you enter the King Lear Prizes?

I entered the King Lear Prizes because friends and family were forever telling me to enter something somewhere and the King Lear Prizes have quite a standing in the literary scene. 

What inspired your work?

I was inspired by my mother, who was my mentor and my muse.  The writing group that I belong to seems to enjoy hearing about my slipshod life so I often  hark back to my humble beginnings to entertain them.

Pat McAleese

Tell us a bit about where you live?

Originally from west Belfast, I came to England in 1969 just a month after the tumultuous events in my story took place. This was in order to take up a place in a teacher training college to study to become a primary school teacher. Now happily retired, I live in the Rossendale area of east Lancashire.

Why did you enter the King Lear Prizes?

I entered the King Lear Prizes competition through my good friend's sister who was entering a piece of Art, and she suggested that I send a story about my experiences in Belfast at the start of "The Troubles" which I had relayed to her previously.

Janette Skinner

Tell us a bit about where you live?

I live in Bournemouth but I am originally from Glasgow. I have also lived in Canada and Spain but now happily retired in my adopted town. Dorset is a beautiful place to live and I am able to swim in the sea all year-round with the Bournemouth Spartans.

Why did you enter the King Lear Prizes?

I was encouraged to enter the King Lear Prizes by a dear friend, and when I found out more about the organisation and the ethos of the competition, I was enthusiastic to submit my story. Obviously, the competition being for my age group was an attraction.

What inspired your work?

I was moved to write my story by experience of real-life events during my working career. I have always tried to advocate social justice for all people and hopefully this is apparent in my writing.

Jeannette Warren

Tell us a bit about where you live?

I was born in London, where my father was a market porter like Alfred Doolittle and my mother worked as a secretary in the Cabinet Office, but I've lived in many places since then and have finally settled in Norfolk.

Why did you enter the King Lear Prizes?

I started to write to pass the time when my husband's job took us to live in Oklahoma, and thought the King Lear Prizes would be a good way to test the quality of my work.

What inspired your work?

Most of my life has been involved with the NHS and I've seen how it's changed since its inception. I've also heard from my parents how it changed the lives of the wartime generation and was inspired to tell its story through my own experience and theirs. This is the beginning.

Sue Gale

Tell us a bit about where you live?

Born and bred in south east London, I moved to Birmingham in 1988 and then to my current address in a village just outside Nottingham in 1994. I regard Nottingham, a city I love, as my adopted home but enjoy visiting ‘my roots’ in London when I can.

Why did you enter the King Lear Prizes?

This is only the second time I have ever entered a writing competition. A friend emailed the details and I thought why not? Here was an opportunity to work on a character piece I began in January about someone I knew, and extend it into a short story.

What inspired your work?

Writing about a real character within a real place dredged up many forgotten memories. I found I could express the feelings I had had at that time within the context of actual incidents which happened, but I wanted to ‘bring the story to the boil’ with a dramatic finale.

Rosemary Harle

Tell us a bit about where you live?

I returned to the UK from The Netherlands eight years ago to be near family as my husband was diagnosed with a life limiting condition, and now I'm back living in Baughurst, near Basingstoke, a small village on the Hampshire/Berkshire border where I grew up. For all our married life we lived in different countries, so it feels very surreal to be back where I started, bumping into people I was at infant school with and being recognised as my sisters' sister when I'm shopping or visiting the doctor's or library.

Why did you enter the King Lear Prizes?

I've written since I was in my late twenties. Initially, it was a way of processing new experiences when we were away from home. Fictional writing was a perfect medium as I'm too self-conscious to write a diary. With my stories, nuances and subtleties come out that I didn't even know were there. Friends and family have always said the stories were good but I jumped at the chance of entering the competition as it was a way of getting a disinterested opinion.

What inspired your work?

Obviously, the weird situation the whole world found itself in when the competition was announced was a definite inspiration. Coupled with the fact that I was still grieving for my husband who'd died eighteen months before and during summer had had to cancel a trip to my sons in California and Australia respectively, the situation gave me lots of material to think about and my story, Kite Strings, just emerged.

Jill Korn

Tell us a bit about where you live?

I live in a village surrounded by fields of (mostly) cows, not far from Glasgow, a few miles from Ayrshire’s beautiful coastline. From the top of the hill, we can see the Isle of Arran in all its moods – except when the clouds are low and it disappears like Brigadoon.

Why did you enter the King Lear Prizes?

It’s so refreshing to have the work of older people acknowledged and better still, actively encouraged. The message is strong and reflects my own approach to life and creativity: why waste time wishing you had done it sooner? Now is what we have; now is the time to do it.

What inspired your work?

As a child, I was thrilled by Christmas pantomimes at the Birmingham Rep; I loved to make up conversations in my head between imagined, magical characters. Nothing really changes. In 2017, I studied creative writing in Glasgow (another panto city!) and began to realise my imaginary conversations as audio drama.

Julie Malone

Tell us a bit about where you live?

I moved to Nottingham in 1996. The county has an exceptional reputation for inspirational writers. From Lord Byron and D H Lawrence to Alan Sillitoe, John Harvey, Stephen Booth, Clare Harvey and Elizabeth Chadwick and more. A few years ago it became a UNESCO City of Literature.

Why did you enter the King Lear Prizes?

I organised several book festivals where older people said they had been writing for years but, being older, no-one took them seriously. I created a short story competition for over-55’s, publishing the top twenty. The King Lear Prize highlights the talents of the silver-haired brigade.

What inspired your work?

‘Freedom’ is a truthful account of our escape from an abusive relationship, told from my young son’s point of view now that he has a son of his own. My three grandchildren were my inspiration for writing this, knowing they will never go through what we experienced.

Martine MacCormack

Tell us a bit about where you live?

I have lived in Dartford, Kent, for over 40 years. I moved here for my first teaching job in 1979, and have brought up a family and now have grandchildren here.

Why did you enter the King Lear Prizes?

The King Lear Prizes information came up on Facebook and I seemed to fit all the criteria.  During lockdown (and with retirement) I had started to write again and the competition gave me the incentive to complete, and hone, a piece of writing.

What inspired your work?

The incident that inspired my story was a very vivid memory from primary school, and I wanted to explore its impact and the ironies of ‘the lesson’ it taught.

Richard Newman

Tell us a bit about where you live?

I live in Boston Spa, a small Spa town in West Yorkshire, where I write and paint in retirement with my wife surrounded close by with three sons, three daughters-in-law and five grandchildren. We are close to the Dales and to York and Harrogate for shopping.

Why did you enter the King Lear Prizes?

I entered the King Lear Prize because I was reassured early on of its competence and professionalism and that I would thus be taken seriously.

What inspired your work?

Inspiration for my performance was through losing the dog I loved more than almost anything else in the world – save my family. Indeed, today I cannot read the story of Crumble without tears running down onto my computer.