u3a Short Story Competition announces its winner
Woking Area u3a member Janet has been named the winner of the 2025/26 u3a Short Story Competition at a virtual awards ceremony.
Now in its sixth year, the annual competition attracted a record 520 entries on the theme Lost and Found. A panel of 70 u3a members assessed the stories on premise, structure and quality of writing.
The fourteen shortlisted writers were invited to a virtual awards ceremony where the three winning stories were announced and read out. The event was attended by Bloomsbury writer Sara Grant, who had been part of the judging panel.
At the event she said, "It’s inspiring and a privilege to read fresh, original work from aspiring writers. Short stories may be short on words but they’re not short on impact. These stories have stayed with me.”
She continued “How incredible to see the three little words, ‘Lost and Found’ and the journeys it has inspired in writers. We had a wide, diverse range of stories and there was something to admire in every story. There is so much promising talent in this virtual space.”
And the winner is...
Woking Area u3a member Janet (pictured, right) was announced as the winner of the competition with her story, ‘The woman in the tree walk’. The story is set in a dystopian world where trees are kept behind museum walls and every individual is subject to closely monitored rules.
The winner of the u3a Short Story Competition; Woking Area u3a member Janet.
Speaking about the story, judge Sara Grant said, “The vision of the future is almost too convincing. To deftly show a writer a dystopian world in so few words is no mean feat. This is an excellent example of how to write a short story."
Hartley Wintney & District u3a member Sarah (left) came second in the competition while Guernsey u3a membr Christina (right) came in third place.
The runners up...
Hartley Wintney & District u3a member Sarah (pictured, left) came in second place with her story, “Finding the key to lost memories”. The reader follows a man in an unfamiliar room, piecing together clues to uncover the meaning of the objects inside.
Christina from Guernsey u3a (pictured above, right) came in third place with her story ‘Little boy lost’. Set in Africa during a period of unrest., a woman searches for her missing son.
"What an amazing competition"
The stories were each read out in the awards ceremony, followed by some short words from Vice Chair of the Third Age Trust, Sheila Crawley. She said, “What an amazing competition. National competitions like this are very special in u3a. They’re an opportunity to bring us all together to shine an incredible light on the skills within u3a and to celebrate what our members can do. It’s quite a thing of trust to commit your story to a competition like this and have it scrutinized by so many people. You’ve reminded us of how much talent there is on show within u3a.”
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