The ups

Yesterday I was lucky enough to a guest judge for the Paddon Award, an annual prize awarded by the University of Exeter convocation. The theme was 'Fifty years on' and the competitors submitted a broad range of prose fiction, poetry and journalistic non-fiction. One of the nice aspects of the day was hearing the work read aloud by the author (this was a stipulation of the competition). I gave a quick talk and helped present the prizes. Overall, I had a wonderful time. Thanks to all the organisers and the competitors.