Student wins top Irish Short Story competition

Thursday 3 May, 2007
Information Studies student wins top Irish Short Story competition
Hester Casey, a distance learning student at the Department of Information Studies at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth is the winner of this year's RTÉ Radio 1 Short Story Competition.

Hester received the first prize of €3,000 and a Waterford Crystal Trophy for her story ‘A Thing of Beauty' at a recent awards ceremony in RTÉ’s Radio Centre in Donnybrook, Dublin.  ‘A Thing of Beauty’ tells the story of Nora who lives out her loveless marriage to Jim against the daily rituals of an Irish farm, her life of quiet desperation punctuated only by bouts of violence. 

Presenting Hester with her award, Ana Leddy, Head of RTÉ Radio 1 said;
“’’A Thing of Beauty’ is a story of great emotional depth that captures the harsh realism of Nora’s existence.  Hester’s style is ideal for radio and I’m looking forward to hearing this and all of the short-listed stories brought to life on the national airwaves over this summer.”

Hester has been writing stories since she was a child. She has been short listed twice in the Fish International Short Story Competition and is an active member of the Eblana Writers' Group which meets in the United Arts Club in Dublin. Hester works full-time as an information consultant with Davy’s Stockbrokers and is currently studying for a Degree in Information Studies at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. 

The competition attracted almost 700 entries from all over Ireland and from Irish people living abroad. The panel were impressed by the high standard of the entries and selected 20 entries for the short–list. All of these stories will be broadcast over the summer, starting with the winning entry.