SFX Magazine announces winner of inaugural writing prize

by Alex Donohue, Brand Republic 02-Aug-06, 11:00

LONDON - Science fiction title SFX Magazine has announced the winner of its first reader writing contest, Pulp Idol, which is set to feature as the October edition's covermount.

Colin Harvey beat 50 contestants to win the Future Publishing-owned title's competition with his story 'The Stinker', which the panel described as a "classic twist-in-the-tale fantasy" about a man cursed with unusual body odour.

Harvey's winning entry will now become the lead story in the SFX Pulp Idol covermount book, which will also include stories from 10 runners-up, and will be given away with the October edition of the magazine.

He will also receive a piece of original artwork inspired by his story, and a collection of books from publishing house Gollancz.

The winning story was chosen by a specialist panel of judges, including members of SFX editorial, publishers at Gollancz, and science fiction author Adam Roberts.

Dave Bradley, editor of SFX, said: "Colin's story won because it was well-observed, was quite unconventional and cleverly avoided the more usual fantasy cliches."

Jo Fletcher, editorial director at Gollancz, added: "From the stories submitted, it's obvious there is no shortage of imagination among SFX readers. Though 'The Stinker' emerged as an early favourite, it was up against some equally good competition."

Harvey, who is a 34-year-old PhD student from Poole, Dorset, runs a videogames design course at London's South Bank University.

The October edition of SFX will be published on August 31.

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