New Zealand author Tracey Slaughter’s “reasons to end us (an aerial view)” was named winner of the £3,000 moth Prize for short stories.
Second place went to Dublin-based writer June Caldwell for “Catastrophic,” while third prize went to “Gertrude’s Favorite Pfeffernüsse” by American author Melanie McGee Bianchi.
Louise Kennedy, award-winning author and judge, said: “Reading the entries reminded me of what a fine and wonderful thing a good short story is. No other form can convey such great emotional depth in so few words.”
Slaughter’s “Reasons to End Us (An Aerial View)” was chosen as the overall winner because she said “the narrator’s voice in this extraordinary work is so haunting, so intense, that I literally caught my breath while reading it.”
Kennedy added: “There is extraordinary control here, but what really sets this short story apart is the timing; details – astonishing in their originality – explode like little bombshells and revelations arrive at just the right moment.”
Slaughter, a poet, essayist and novelist from New Zealand, won second prize in 2018 for Postcards are a Thing of the Past and her work has won numerous other awards. She lives in Kirikiriroa, where she teaches creative writing at the University of Waikato and edits the magazines chaos And Poetry AotearoaSlaughter will receive 3,000 euros and her story will be published as part of the summer fiction series in Irish Times.
