Good food and good writing once again joined forces as Sight Airedale in Keighley hosted the Airedale Writers’ Circle’s Christmas evening, including the presentation of prizes for the Circle’s 2013 writing competition for adults.

Opening the meeting, the Circle’s new chairman, Peter Morrison, ruefully commented he might have been a little less quick off the mark in earlier advising the Circle’s committee he was now retired and “with a little more time on his hands”.

This explained why he was now the only one left standing, while everyone else remained seated. As they say, never volunteer!

The Circle’s guest for the evening was crime writer Frances Brody, who had talked of her career to Circle members earlier in the autumn and had also generously agreed to judge the 2013 competition entries. These were placed, as usual, in three categories: short stories, articles and poetry.

Addressing members, Ms Brody commented that, while the task of judging had been hard work, it had also given her a good deal of pleasure, due in large part to the overall high quality of the entries and the variety of topics explored.

The short story entries, in particular, ranged widely, producing two ghost stories, a spooky tale of a modern-day witch and a moving piece centring on a woman hanged for witchcraft in the 17th century.

A number of pieces tackled homelessness, the plight of vulnerable children and the elderly, while others explored the Yorkshire landscape in a variety of settings.

Ms Brody went on to say that responding to writing was always a subjective business, and she had chosen pieces that “leapt off the page” for her, though all the entrants had produced work of merit.

Prizewinners and runners-up were: poetry, 1 Carol Shaw, The Other Side of the Fence, 2 Scott Dickinson, The James Brown of the Passerines; article, 1 John Roberts, Food Bank, 2 Sue Keidan, Society Means Us; short story, 1 Alan Cowling, The Five O’Clock Hopper, 2 Alan Cowling, The Insurance Policy.

Winner of the Circle’s Challenge Cup for 2013 was John Roberts.

The Circle’s next meeting will be on January 14 at 7.30pm at the Sight Airedale offices in Keighley.

Details of the 2014 Children’s Writing Competition will reach schools early in 2014, with presentation of prizes on May 13 at East Riddlesden Hall.