By Stanley Szecowka
Fabulous Fatema Tuz Zohra’s wonderful way of weaving words together in a moving love epic impressed the judges and won her a BD25 prize in the popular GDNLife short story monthly writing competition.
The 33-year-old Bangladeshi expatriate took the top prize for December with Witness which has already attracted more than 4,000 views on the popular social media platform.
https://www.gdnlife.com/Home/ArticleDetail?ArticleId=43172&category=18
“It’s a sweet story filled with nostalgia and well developed,” said judge Rohini Sunderam, from Bahrain Writers Circle. “Some evocative imagery, I particularly liked, ‘his handwriting looked like a straight-line graph of shivers’.”
Ms Tuz Zohra, who lives in Al Ghuful, is co-founder/senior consultant at Catapult Management Consultancy Company and moved to Bahrain in 2018.
“It’s so exciting to have won the competition but, what is most precious, is that the story is being read by so many people,” she said.
“I thank GDNLife for giving aspiring writers like me a platform to share these stories.
“It’s 90 per cent a true story with 10pc fiction. One day, I just asked myself what is love? And, I defined it as being someone’s witness.”
In the U18 category, talented Tanisha Biswas made it a hat-trick of successes, adding December’s accolade to her two earlier victories in the contest.
She took June’s U18 prize for her entry Our Weakness and did it again with The Last Night Of Sarah in August and was described as ‘an Agatha Christie in the making!’ by judge Chris Fenton, head teacher of the British Primary Department at Al Noor International School.
The Prisoner inside the Turret has already received more than 2,700 views and Mr Fenton described the 13-year-old’s latest offering as ‘gripping’.
https://www.gdnlife.com/Home/ArticleDetail?ArticleId=44012&category=18
“In fact, I was gripped from beginning to end. Very well done,” he added. “Some strong descriptions and a clear sense of character development – well done again Tanisha!”
The 13-year-old Bangladeshi expatriate, who lives with her parents in Tubli, said she felt ‘extremely grateful’.
“It’s a very big honour for me,” she added. “Thanks to GDNLife, for letting me publish my stories, and thanks to those people who have supported me and read my stories. This win has motivated me to write more and never give up.
“Writing has always been more than a hobby to me. I am glad that a lot of people enjoy my stories.”
Tanisha wins a couple of movie tickets.
January 2022 entries are invited so get writing up to 800 words today! Register, choose an image, create a title, paste and copy your words in text – and submit to share your work on www.gdnlife.com – clearly stating Adult or U18 entry.
Our panel of judges will also decide on who should walk away with the annual GDNLife Short Story of the Year prize trophies in both categories after the competition’s second anniversary in March.
The winner of the GDNLife People’s Choice Award – the short story that has received the most views and likes – will also be announced.
Keen writers of all ages are being offered the chance to publish their work on Bahrain’s popular social media platform for a monthly prize. As a result of the contest’s success there is now a special exclusive Short Story section on www.gdnlife.com for visitors to enjoy.
editor@gdnonline.com
