Celebrity lineup for Isle of Wight short story competition judges

Sight for Wight is running its short story writing competition again this year after the success of last year’s which produced some very high-quality entries.

This is the fifth year running the competition; originally started eleven years ago by patrons, RC Bridgestock, international crime writing authors.

Chris Cane, Marketing and Communications Manager said,

“With more than 6,500 living on the Island with a visual impairment, to support our services we run several events every year raising vital funds but with the summer lockdown, all of our 2020 events were cancelled.
“The simple fact is, raising money in these unprecedented times is very difficult; however, we were determined to launch our short story writing competition again as this is always an exciting opportunity for budding Island writers to become published authors and win some great prizes by very talented people and it’s open to anyone who would like to enter.
“We want people’s imaginations to run wild so this year’s theme is, ‘the wish’ which doesn’t have to have a Christmas theme so I’m looking forward to reading some fantastic stories which, I’m sure, will give our mystery judges a very difficult task this year.
“We are delighted to announce our four celebrity readers who have kindly agreed to donate their time and read the winning stories.”

Edana Minghella – Born into the most wonderful Anglo-Italian family where music, food and wine — and ice-cream! – were the basic stuff of life, Island favourite, Edana, has been singing forever. In recent years she has established herself as a successful jazz performer, regularly playing to full houses in England and Italy. Festival performances include the Isle of Wight Jazz Festival and Jazz on the Meadow, in support of Courtney Pine and last year performed at the Freshwater Memorial Hall. This is Edana’s fifth year reading for us.

Melvyn Hayes – Melvyn is an actor who played the role of Gunner Beaumont in the 1970’s BBC sitcom It Ain’t Half Hot Mum. He also worked as a voice actor in children’s cartoons such as SuperTed and The Dreamstone and was a regular on the 70’s children’s television show, The Double Deckers. Melvyn also starred in the classic films with Cliff Richard, Summer Holiday and The Young Ones and more recently was one of the contestants in Celebrity Pointless. This is Melvyn’s fourth year reading.

Jo Brand – Jo is an English comedian, writer and actress. Starting her entertainment career with a move from psychiatric nursing to the alternative comedy stand-up scene and early performances on Saturday Live, she went on to appear on The Brain Drain, Channel 4’s Jo Brand Through the Cakehole, Getting On and various television appearances including as a regular guest on QI, Have I Got News for You and Would I Lie to You?. She is currently the presenter of The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice. In 2003, Jo was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. This is Jo’s second time reading for us.

Ray Allen – Ray was born on the Isle of Wight and is a British television screenwriter and playwright; best known for creating the 1970s BBC sitcom, ‘Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em’. He also contributed nine episodes of The Little and Large Show and wrote a number of one off plays. In 2016 Ray contributed with some of the dialogue for a special one-off episode of Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em for Sport Relief. This is Ray’s first time reading for us.

Deadline for entry
The closing date for the competition is Friday 13^th November at 4pm.

The winners will be announced on Monday 7th December at a virtual award ceremony.

The Under 12’s category will have their story printed in the County Press and certificates awarded to all winners; the other categories will have their stories published online.

Entry forms are available from: