A little while ago I mentioned a competition being run by the Diamond Light Source, which as you all know is the UK’s national synchrotron facility.
At the time I said that I couldn’t say anything about my story because it was being judged anonymously and I didn’t want to prejudice the judging process. Well, the judging is now over, and it turns out that the judges have impeccable taste because my story, The Pélissier Scroll, was selected as the second place winner.
The story is about an academic’s lifelong passion to uncover the mystery of an ancient scroll, and is intercut with the mythical narrative behind the fragile, ancient parchment that he is using a synchrotron beamline to decipher. The judges described it as “beautifully written and pacy”, and although I think I could have done with about 500 more words to play with (there was a 3,000 word limit) I’m pretty happy with how it came out.
The full results of the competition are available here on the Light Reading website.
Update: I have made the short story free to read online: The Pélissier Scroll.
Simon John Cox 