This year’s annual Short Story Competition was carried out as part of the 2013 Gibraltar Spring Festival. The contest boasted 246 entries, which were judged by Mr. Charles Durante, Mrs Aida Delaney and Mrs Patsy Scott.

Commenting on the entries, and the competition itself, Mr. Durante noted that writing short stories is one way to put across our love of language. He added that in Gibraltar we are blessed with many people who revel in the imaginative use of language. Mr. Durante explained that this year’s competition is testimony to this love of language. He noted that this year’s entries had been truly impressive, both in terms of numbers and quality.

Minister Linares said, ‘as a Minister and a teacher by profession, I am delighted to see the number of entries in this year's Short Story Competition. The high standard and variety of work and the imagination of some of the participants is overwhelming. I would like to thank and congratulate all the participants and everyone involved with this competition.’

Within the school year 4 – 7 category, Sami Tunbridge of Bishop Fitzgerald School was awarded the runners up prize for his story, ‘My Brother Sean’. First place was awarded to Joey Sacrarello for his piece, ‘Three Brave Mice.’

Within the school years 8-11 category, Richard Louis Parral of Bayside School was awarded the runners up prize for his short story, ‘The Dream’. 1^st Place was awarded to Petr Zagura of Bayside School for his piece, ‘An Emergency Landing’. 1st Place within the year 12-13 category was won by Gabriella Garcia of Westside School for her short story, ‘The End of the World’.

Elena Scialtiel won 3rd place of the overall winners with her piece, ‘Dinner with Tariq and Aaron’. The 2^nd prize was won by Jackie Anderson for her story ‘Predictable Me’ and the overall first prize was awarded to Jean Rovegno’s story, ‘Lonely.’

The Overall Winner, Jean Rovegno received the £300 cash prize and trophy donated by the Ministry of Culture. All winning entries will be published in the Gibraltar Chronicle.