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The Glencairn
Glass proudly announces the winner and
runner-up of its Scottish themed crime
short story competition.
The Glencairn Glass – the world’s
favourite whisky glass produced by
Scottish glassware company Glencairn
Crystal - has revealed the winner and
runner-up of its Scottish themed crime
short story competition.
Having supported and celebrated Scottish
crime writing talent with its ongoing
sponsorship of the prestigious
McIlvanney and Bloody Scotland Debut
crime-writing literary awards since
2020, the Glencairn Glass first launched
its very own crime short story
competition two years ago. Since its
inception, the competition has attracted
a huge number of gripping entries from
both novice and experienced crime
writers all over the world.
The theme for this year’s competition -
in partnership with Scottish Field
Magazine and the Bloody Scotland Crime
Writing Festival - is “A crime story set
in Scotland”. Over 100 stories were
entered into the competition – each one
comprising of no more than 2000 words.
The winner and runner-up were selected
by a panel of three judges including
Tariq Ashkanani, whose debut novel
Welcome to Cooper won last year’s Bloody
Scotland Debut Award 2022, and Sharon
Bairden, an established book reviewer
and author of psychological thrillers;
Sins of the Father and You Need Me. The
third judge was Glencairn Crystal’s
marketing director and experienced crime
writer Gordon Brown.
The judges can now reveal the winner and
runner-up as follows:
- Winner: The Dummy Railway by
Frances Crawford.
A captivating tale of a disturbing
discovery through the eyes of a
young Scottish girl.
Frances is a passionate advocate of
lifelong learning. In 2022, she
graduated at the age of 60 with an
MLitt (First) in Creative Writing
from Glasgow University. Having
published a number of short stories
with disabled protagonists she is
particularly interested in
characters traditionally overlooked
in fiction. Frances lives in Glasgow
with her family,
Frances said; "I was inspired to
enter the Glencairn Glass Crime
Short Story Competition because it
is open to writers at all stages of
their journey, from published
authors to novices. It is an honour
to win such a prestigious prize and
I am absolutely chuffed! The theme,
‘A crime story set in Scotland,’
inspired my Glasgow setting, and
having a child who finds a murder
victim as the narrator, I hoped to
show the way violent crime has
far-reaching consequences."
- Runner-up: The Last Tram to
Gorbals Cross by Allan Gaw.
Set in a Glasgow police station in
1928, the police try to unravel a
series of gruesome murders.
Allan Gaw is a pathologist by
training but now writes full-time.
He writes short stories, novel
length historic crime fiction and
poetry. He recently won the UK
Classical Association Creative
Writing Competition, the
International Alpine Fellowship
Writing Prize and the International
Globe Soup 7 day Writing Challenge.
Allan lives and works near Glasgow.
Allan said: "I am delighted to be
placed in such a prestigious writing
competition. The Glencairn Glass
Short Story Competition was a great
opportunity to write in my favourite
genre — historic crime with just a
touch of madness".
Competition judge, Tariq Ashkanani,
commented: “The quality of this year’s
stories was incredibly high which made
choosing two winners even more
difficult. Both The Dummy Railway and
The Last Tram to Gorbals Cross stood out
from the rest. The Dummy Railway was a
particular highlight. From its opening
line to its final reveal, it tells a
dark tale using wonderful language and
sharply-written dialogue. A fantastic
story and well-deserved winner!”.
Commenting on The Dummy Railway, judge
Sharon Bairden said: “brutally raw
authenticity - it ticked all my boxes
and gave me all the feels”. In relation
to The Last Tram to Gorbals Cross she
commented: “it packs a massive punch
into 2000 words.”
Glencairn’s marketing director Gordon
Brown said: “’Now in its second year,
the standard of entries for the
Glencairn Glass Short Story Competition
has been wonderful. With so many good
stories to choose from, the judging
process has been tough and I’d like to
take the opportunity to say a huge
thanks to everyone who entered.”
The first prize winner, Frances
Crawford, receives £1000, and runner-up,
Allan Gaw receives £500. Both writers
will also receive a set of six bespoke
engraved Glencairn Glasses. The winning
story will be published in the May issue
of Scottish Field Magazine (on shelf
Friday 7th April). Both stories will
also be published from 11th April on
Scottish Field Magazine’s website;
www.scottishfield.co.uk and the
Glencairn Glass website:
www.whiskyglass.com.
Last year’s inaugural competition was
won by Brid Cummings, a fiction writer
and occupational therapist, based in
South Australia. Her winning story -
Halmeoni’s Wisdom – was a dark tale of
human trafficking, illegal trade and a
desire for freedom.
Finally, for further information about
this year’s McIlvanney and Bloody
Scotland Debut crime-writing prizes, as
well as the Bloody Scotland Crime
Writing Festival taking place in
Stirling, Scotland, from the 15th to
17th September, please visit
www.bloodyscotland.com
You will find Glencairn's range of
sturdy wee whisky glasses as well as
their other offerings
available from specialist online whisky
shops such
as
The Whisky Exchange,
The Whisky Shop,
Hard To Find Whisky
and
Master of
Malt
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