Huge congratulations to the winners (and well done to all who participated!) of the CAL Fast Fiction competition which was offered as part of UoBe Festival 2023. The competition involved students submitting a 50-word short story focusing on the following themes:
- Poverty and Inequality/human rights
- Climate Change and Sustainability
- Gender Equality
- Wellbeing Neighbourhood and Community
First Place entry:
Ignoring her bleeding knee and the honking of suited chauffeurs, Abike manoeuvred through the shiny cars of Ikoyi traffic on all fours, trying to salvage what was left of her oranges. It was too late. Empty-handed, she returned home - a damp corner under Obalende bridge.
Another fruitless day hawking.
Oluwakanyinsola Bankole. College of Social Sciences
Second Place entry:
I am defenceless against your advances. No soft whispers in my ear inviting me to uncurl my roots from soil where wheat could grow. The element I produce is oxygen, not gold so you sever my limbs, kill my family until there is no air left to-
Eve Hutchinson, College of Arts and Law
Third Place entry:
“Infrared.”
Its seventh finger elongated, wobbled for a moment and tapped the screen. The display shimmered and morphed.
“Zoom in. Third planet. Look, I told you.” Gaseous plumes glowed orange around the small white core.
“Life forms?”
“Gone.”
***
The plumes were like petals, the silky fire of treöblàʤ. Beautiful.
Elisabeth Jeffreys. College of Life and Environmental Sciences