FFF Competition Twenty-Nine Judge’s Report by Amy Photiou
18th September 2025
Thank you, Ian, for inviting me to judge Competition Twenty-Nine. I felt honoured to read the fifteen shortlisted stories and enjoyed each of the individual styles they were written in. Having not judged a writing competition before, I had only the outlook of an entrant. I concluded that ultimately, a judge is inclined to select the pieces they themselves most enjoyed, which was a little revelation to me, as ignorant perhaps as that may sound to seasoned writers!
In 'The day you finally move into my cottage', I felt like a fly on the wall, a diary snooper, someone privy to the details of someone else’s life, and I particularly liked that it was an interesting and beautiful blend of humour, passion, and the daily humdrum. However, I was swayed by the writing in my following choices.
Shortlisted
Impossible Summer
This story entwines life’s wretchedness, its small mercies - the joys, however short-lived – and the reality that is survival, which can often involve crooked and dark paths that some must travel repeatedly before darkness dissipates fully. I especially appreciated the opening paragraph, which grabs the reader instantly but gently, onto a bus in Northumberland, and how the story unfolds, revealing the messiness of life without dwelling on it, painting a picture of healing and hope along the way.
On the Wind excelled in its ability to focus fully on the character’s new beginning, due to previous events, without revealing specific details of the past which triggered her new season. I found this story to be evocative, sensuous, and clever. Quietly confident, it is realistically paced, allowing the reader to illustrate their own setting. For me, it was set in the long back garden of a large Victorian terrace in North London, and I delighted in the author’s subtle but defining style.
Trick or Treat
This story should deeply resonate with anyone who remembers the painfulness of being a child or teenager who can’t relate to all (or any) aspects of popular culture, who has lingered on the periphery looking in on the masses with wonder and mistrust, only to eventually find themselves on the inside, but still a stranger. The author encapsulates perfectly how our need to belong can morph into risky desperation, usually resulting in embarrassment that we can only laugh at genuinely once in adulthood, where we wear our chunky black school shoes with pride.
Highly Commended
What Remains, Luminous
I was impressed by the imagination behind this piece of writing and how well the author had transferred their ideas without losing any magic in the process. It wasn’t predictable or borrowed, and was, like its title, a luminous piece of writing, multifaceted and sparkling, refusing to conform, and standing out uniquely, I felt.
Another story which I felt to be set apart was The Cosmology of Moths, which suddenly delivers a grotesquely beautiful scene wherein the main character inhales and later regurgitates an army of moths. The author writes in such a way, convincingly and with certainty, that may cause the reader to begin to wonder, fleetingly and childishly, whether such phenomena exist!
Winner
All That the Tide Carries
From the beginning to the end, this story, for me, is an example of how some of the best writing stems from our own experiences or observations. I found myself able to relate to each beat, or pause, in this story, to the unpacking of closely held emotions which only the ocean seems able to release and conquer on our behalf, helping us to fully appreciate again the simple but precious things we hold dear. This was a simple glimpse into a short but critical part of someone’s day, a glimpse so richly and naturally narrated that I feel everyone who has ever pondered on or been liberated by a beach, will likely also love the way this story unfolds.
Amy Photiou
www.linkedin.com/in/amy-photiou