Thank you to everyone who entered the competition, run by the British Academy with our help, to find a new fairytale for modern London. We had (darts voice) 180 entries — and were a bit overwhelmed by the response.
Judges Scott Pack, head of new publishing imprint Aardvark Bureau and formerly at HarperCollins, along with poet Julia Bird selected the ultimate winner: Mud Man by Melaina Barnes. Melaina wins a set of the Folio Society’s classic fairy tales and the honour of being everyone's favourite all round. Mud Man, as well as three other shortlisted stories — Waterloo Sunrise by James Clark, The Last Train by Rocío Bégué and The Fingernail Fairy by Tracy Kuhn — will be published in an exclusive Literature Week pamphlet, distributed at all events at the British Academy's May Literature Week festival, and you'll be able to read all four here on Londonist from next month.
The British Academy's Literature Week runs 11-17 May, with all kinds of completely free events around folk tales and fairy tales. Expect walks, talks, performances and an exciting late event at the British Academy's gorgeous Carlton House Terrace building — visit the website for more information now, and keep your eyes peeled for interviews and behind the scenes details as we draw nearer the time.
