Prose Fiction entries praised by author

Tonbridge School has awarded prizes to boys who took part in the E.M.Forster Prose Fiction competition. Entries were judged by the award-winning writer and journalist Rob Cowen, author of the acclaimed Common Ground.

The winner of the Novi competition was Leo Black (JH1) for his story Desolation. Rob Cowen called this “a standout piece” with “a powerful Dystopian feel”, adding it was “an evocative and very well-written short story that would make an excellent first chapter to a novel”.

The gold prize in the Intermediate section was awarded to Colin Chow (Sc3) for The Art of War. This short story was “fresh, different, pacey and clever … interesting and innovative,” according to Mr Cowen.

Angus Crawford (OH4) won top prize in the Senior competition for The Game. Mr Cowen described this as “a seriously impressive effort,” adding: “I really loved the balance of detail, description and the character’s revelations, all built around a great little story”.

Nick Waywell, Head of English, said: “Many of the entries displayed great writing skill and the standard was extremely high. Our judge’s comments show how impressed he was and how much he enjoyed reading these pieces.”

Full list of prize winners as follows:

Novi:

Gold: Desolation by Leo Black (JH1)

Silver: Whale by George Kitchener (HS1)

Bronze: The Man by Will Press (SH1)

Intermediate:

Gold: The Art of War by Colin Chow (Sc3)

Silver: Parkland by Alex Tennant-Holder (CH3)

Bronze: Anger by Ben Burgess (WW3)

Senior:

Gold: The Game by Angus Crawford (OH4)

Silver: 8mm by Teddy Trenowden (HS5)

Bronze: The Great Wall by Harry Robson (PS4)