The first monthly prize winners of the GDNlife Short Story contests have been announced after the literary prowess of all the entries was considered by a panel of judges.

Bahraini Maria S. Haneef took the BD25 prize in the adult section for her emotional roller coaster of never ending love called ‘Sunsets You Paint’.

One of the judges, Rohini Sunderam, from Bahrain Writers Circle, said Maria’s entry 'brought tears to her eyes’, adding: “Beautiful! I loved it.” So impressed she hopes she will join the writers’ group.

Delighted Maria said: “It feels surreal to me that the judges not only liked my story but also chose me as the first winner. I didn't expect that honestly. So my special thanks to the GDN team for making this happen as well as all the judges.”

Schoolgirl Taliah Algosaibi won a pair of cinema tickets in the under 18 category for her touching piece highlighting mental health issues called 'A story that needs to be told'. 

Judge Julie Anne Gilbert, infants school head teacher at the British School of Bahrain, described Taliah’s entry as 'original and thought-provoking’ as well as being ‘well-structured with an excellent use of analogy'.

Teenager Taliah, who comes from Saudi Arabia, lives in Bahrain and attends Riffa Views International School. She said: “I actually entered as a part of an English assignment for school: one where we were required to write a short story for a competition, and submit it if we wished to. I certainly did not expect this outcome!
“I love to write, and I’m so grateful to have had this opportunity to share my passion.”

• Keen writers are being offered the chance to continue publishing their work on Bahrain’s new social media platform for a monthly prize.
• Winning stories, of no more than 800 words, will then compete for an annual GDNlife Short Story of the Year prize trophy … and even entries that do not win the judges’ approval could still walk away with an accolade - The GDNlife People’s Choice Award - for receiving the most views and likes.

Link to Maria’s winning story:

https://www.gdnlife.com/Home/ArticleDetail?ArticleId=23161&category=10

Link to Taliah’s winning story:

https://www.gdnlife.com/Home/ArticleDetailrticleId=23920&category=10

Online link to competition details:

https://www.gdnlife.com/Home/ArticleDetail?ArticleId=22753&category=10