Montegrappa First Fiction Competition winners announced

Claudine Pabst, winner of the Montegrappa First Fiction Competition, flanked by Luigi Bonomi (left) founder of Luigi Bonomi Associates Literary Agency and head of the jury; and Charles Nahhas, managing director of Montegrappa Middle East. — Supplied photo

Dubai - The third Montegrappa First Fiction Competition winners were announced on Friday at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2015 with Claudine Pabst named the overall winner and Kim Adams and Steven Bainbridge chosen as runners-up.

The three winners were presented their prizes at the festival by leading UK literary agent Luigi Bonomi, Annabel Kantaria and Rachel Hamilton, former winners of the competition and now-published authors, and Haytham Nasr of Montegrappa Middle East. The ceremony was held following Bonomi’s talk on Getting Published.

Winner Claudine Pabst’s young adult fantasy manuscript The Reluctant Thief follows teenager Mara Bloom as she discovers a hidden world and new powers that can help save its people. Pabst had kept her participation in the competition a secret and did not know she had won the competition till her name was announced. She expressed her excitement at winning, saying: “I am incredibly happy to have won! Like many aspiring writers, I was shy about showing my work. Reading about the past winners of the Montegrappa First Fiction Competition and their incredible journeys is what inspired me to enter the competition this year. I am so grateful for this opportunity to receive feedback on my work, and I want to thank Emirates Litfest for providing the kind of environment that encourages aspiring authors in the UAE to take that first step in pursuing their dream.”

As part of her prize, Pabst wins a trip to the London Book Fair, with flights courtesy of Emirates and accommodation from InterContinental Hotels. All winners receive Montegrappa pens and copies of the current Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook.

Kim Adams was first runner-up for her contemporary novel, The 9 Lives of Catherine Lewis which is set in a world where technology is a backdrop for the daily grind. The book follows Alice Green, an ordinary woman who becomes determined to learn more about the titular Catherine Lewis, whose death she witnessed.

Second runner-up for 2015 was Steven Bainbridge for his Japan and Korea-set mystery story, Comfort Men. Bonomi applauded Bainbridge’s premise and plot twist saying “this is a novel in which all is not as it appears – it makes for great drama!”

The third Montegrappa First Fiction Competition saw a substantial increase in entries, receiving over 130 submissions. The competition is held between October and January and is open exclusively to UAE residents over the age of 21 years who have never had a novel published. — news@khaleejtimes.com