THE WINNER and runners up of a short fiction initiative operated by Leicester-based diversity-led arts collective Serendipity and Writing East Midlands for writers from African and African Caribbean backgrounds have been announced.

The winning entry – a fantasy story about friendship and self-empowerment entitled Yemi Can’t Swim: Something in the Water, – was submitted by Sarah Kelly-Olatunji.

The runners up were Lloyd Harry-Davis with The Way The World Works, exploring bereavement and mental health within an alternative universe, and Iris Sankoh-Douglas with Humility is a Healer, about growing up as a dual heritage woman and her connection with her father. 

Prize

Sarah Kelly-Olatunji will receive £500 in prize money, with Lloyd Harry-Davis and Iris Sankoh-Douglas both receiving £250 each.  All three will also be given free entry to The Writers’ Conference, which is organised annually by Writing East Midlands to give new writers access to leading publishing industry professionals.

All three stories will be published in BlackInk magazine, which is being produced for Leicester’s Black History Month celebration.

The winner and runners-up demonstrate the broad appeal of the competition: Sarah, born in London to Nigerian parents, has no literary credentials, aside from “a deep and abiding hunger for stories – experiencing those of others and the creation of her own.”

Published

Lloyd’s writing on international movement has been published by the Financial Times. A graduate of University of Warwick in 2019, he has a degree in English Literature, has studied abroad at the University of California, Berkeley, and has lived in London and Ghana. He was born and raised in French Guiana.

Of mixed African and European parentage, Iris’ writing is heavily informed by her cultural heritage and her “fragile feelings” of being and only child.     

Pawlet Brookes, CEO and Artistic Director of Serendipity said: “It was fantastic to receive so many stories from many talented people across the country, myself and the team enjoyed reading each one and would like to thank everyone for entering. 

“I’d like to congratulate Sarah on winning and Lloyd and Iris as runners up.  To have these three stories included in BlackInk as part of Black History Month is a real celebration of African and African Caribbean creativity within the community”

For more on BlackInk or Black History Month in Leicester, visit www.serendipity-uk.com