Winners of the Writing Spirit Award 2009

The winners for the Writing Spirit Award were announced and the Irish Writers' Centre's Maire Robinson came in third for her short story The Weight of Words. Congratulations Maire!

Brian K won the top prize for his work Perpetuity and Gerry Boland was a close second for The Fox.

Writing4all, the organiser of the competition, said: "The high standard of the Top Ten shortlisted stories made the final selection very difficult."

The website quoted their esteemed judge Nadine O'Regan, who is also the Sunday Business Post's Books and Arts Editor. She said: "It was a very tough task to choose the top three, even after I had read and reread them several times. The ten (shortlisted) stories showed spark, ambition and great observational powers. I hope all ten writers persevere in their work; they have a lot of talent."

O'Regan went on to explain the reasons for selecting the top three: "For me, the outright winner was Perpetuity. The story was beautifully structured and paced, with simple, understated, yet specific language and compelling characters that were well individuated.

In second position, I placed The Fox. The author has a clear talent for etching characters with wonderfully strong, individual voices.

In third place comes The Weight of Words. I was moved by this story and I felt that the author gave a very truthful, poignant depiction of how a family can be affected by disease."

Writing4all reminds writers that a new competition has started. The 2nd Annual Writing Spirit Award for Short Fiction and Poetry is currently accepting submissions. Have a look at the Writers' Centre's website for more details.