I’ve been reading the shortlisted stories in Out of Print magazine this last week, many of which were very moving. Between them they dealt with a range of serious topics such as marriage, the burden of getting old, murder, rape, terror, and there was also some warm and fond stories of a lighter nature. I don’t know which of the writers were the winners in this competition, but I have my own favourites while at the same time, enjoying each of the stories for their skilled use of language and cleverness.
The story I was most deeply engaged with was ‘All Alone Together’ by Hema Raman, I thought this was a fantastically good piece of writing, and this was followed closely by Monika Pant’s ‘Birdwatcher’ a deliciously charming story in which the observations and descriptions are beautifully rendered. And then the very chilling ‘My Talisman’ by Manoshij Bannerjee, which I felt I should read again, was my third choice. Following that was a curious story about paranoia and fear that I really enjoyed, ‘Left or Right’ by Sudha Mathew.
It must require a huge amount of work and concentration to pick out the winning stories from a shortlist because, as a group of shortlisted stories are likely to be at more or less the same level in terms of writing skill and language use, the choice then becomes subjective — which story the reader finds most interesting, or identifies with or is struck by for any number of other reasons. Each one of stories in this shortlist have great merit and individualism, so without ranking any of the remaining stories, but picking them out at random:-
The Awakening by Shurthi Rao is wonderful in the way the main character starts to see things differently when he first makes his life changing decision.
The Old Woman who could Fly by Deepak Unnikrishnam is sprinkled with delightful madness and yet is serious and really quite heart-breaking.
The Sad Unknowability of Dilip Singh by Tanuj Solanki is a perfectly strange and sad story that I think I must read again
Petroleum Venus by Garima Goel has an interesting almost reportage style which makes the subject matter and message of the story even more poignant.
The Last Sin by Gaurav Deka was a solidly good read and the use of objects and sounds to build up the dramatic tension was very skillful.
Shifting Lives by Ajay Patri was a very moving story made more so by the economical and strong writing style.
Land Beyond the Growing Hill by Kennith Rosario had some really beautiful descriptions in it which gave the story a magical quality.
Babies in the Park by Fehmida Zakeer is another quite strange story in which dragonflies add an otherworldly quality.
The Curious Case of the Missing Postbox by K, Sahasranaman is one of the lighter stories, a delightful quirky piece of writing full of energy and kindliness
The Aftereffects of a Nightmare by Sanchari B deals with grim and important subject matter and with psychological detail that feels believable.
Malena Learns the Spices by Nabina Das is a curious wandering tale with some lovely images.
A Touch Deep Down by Mohit Parikh is an interesting story about choice and one with a powerful sense of repression rippling through it, and entrapment.
Mishti Doi by Rachna Kiri is a clever story written warmly and with energy and the simile of mishti doi and sweet yoghurt works well.
Speechless by Sreejith Sukumaran is a story that slowly but surely draws the reader in and while the theme for the contest is ‘choice’ this story could equally be about loneliness.
Long Way from Home by Kulpreet Yadav is a wonderfully atmospheric story which I saw as a series of snap shots, a gritty and enjoyable read.
I wish all the writers the best of luck with their work and hope they go on to write further excellent short stories as the short story has gained some weight over the last couple of years and being a very difficult form to master, deserves the best writers.
http://outofprintmagazine.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/dna-out-of-print-short-fiction-stories.html?spref=fb
