The 2010 Edge Hill Prize.

Given the contents of my previous blog entry, it may seem that my silence during the past 2 weeks is related to England’s embarrassing performance against Germany, but it isn’t. I’ve had to button my lips and cross my typing fingers to prevent myself from blurting out some news about the Edge hill Prize. 

This year the prize had a new, student component and two weeks ago I found out that I had won it. I wasn't allowed to say anything until after the award ceremony which occurred last night at Blackwell's bookshop in Charing Cross, London. I won £500 which was fabulous, but the best part of the prize was having my winning story made into a little book.

During the evening Rob Shearman, who was nominated for the main prize, signed a copy of his short story collection Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical for me. He was kind enough to address it to two of my boys who love Dr Who and Rob's Dalek episode (although they probably aren't old enough to read these short stories yet).  Rob drew a Dalek shouting "Exterminate Sam and Daniel" which will be much appreciated by the boys when they see it. He won the £1,000 Readers' Prize.

Jeremy Dyson of The League of Gentlemen and The Armstrong and Miller Show won the main £5,000 Edge Hill Prize for his collection The Cranes that Build Cranes.

It wasn't until I was on the train back to Twickenham where we had parked our car, that I looked inside my little book and discovered that author Chris Beckett winner of the 2009 Edge Hill Prize had written a foreward to my story which was definitely the best part of the prize.

My winning story Just In Case was a slightly edited and retitled version of a story which I blogged a small section of here.