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Entries were sent in from as far away as Singapore and Connecticut, along with what seemed like most of the school children in St Austell, and a cluster from in and around Tunbridge Wells.

The mix of writing styles included sharp and contemporary and warm and sentimental. Pieces were set on beaches, farms and hills, underwater, in bed, on a train, on a ferry and at the Pirate鈥檚 rugby ground.

Themes included bereavement, insanity, talking rocks, drug binges, childhood, murder, wind power and fishing. One piece was narrated by a bottle and one concerned itself with the 鈥楪reen Flash鈥� (a type of sunset, rather than a tennis shoe made by Dunlop).

Below is the list of winners and the runners-up, with a little extract from their stories, the names of all those who were shortlisted and audio from a selection of entries:

Adults

Winner

Crispin Williams from St. Ives, who wrote On a Tuesday.
"The mob looting the pasty shop in the High Street ignored me as my boots crunched over broken glass鈥�"

Runner-up

Sallie Stephens from Saltash who wrote Kit Hill.
鈥淪outh-west, toward the far-away-ness of my mother鈥檚 Penzance, the coverlet of fields and forests lay gentle on the granite bones of Cornwall, folding into the distance.鈥�

Shortlisted

Rainy Days by Sarah Kearney from Lostwithiel:

The Wrong Way Home by Serena Partrick from Boscastle:

Lying Down by Bridget Leaman from The Lizard:

Under 16s

Winner

Natalie Dyer from Brannel School, St Austell who wrote Falmouth Harbour.
"I look at the multi-coloured houses, thinking of exotic names for each tint and hue. The sorbet oranges and the sea-anemone peaches jumping out at me like pages of a storybook."

Runner-up

Rebecca Lobb from St. Austell who wrote Home, Corran Farm, St. Ewe. "Rushing, flowing, bounding, bustling over rocks and stones, the river zig-zagging its way through a hidden world, only slowing on the rare occasion that it meets an obstacle: often fourteen, wandering welly boots."

Shortlisted

Par Harbour by Michael Scott from Brannel School, St Austell:

A Message in a Bottle by Jowen Orell from St. Allen, Truro

Beyond These Shores by Josh Pinder from St Stephen, St Austell:

Many congratulations to the winners, and commiserations but well done to all those whose entries were shortlisted.