As part of the Futures Forum’s Scotland 2030 Programme – our aspirational exploration of Scotland’s culture and society in 2030 and beyond – we were delighted to support a short story competition to help us imagine the future.
We teamed up with Cymera, Scotland’s Festival of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Writing, and Shoreline of Infinity, Scotland’s award-winning science fiction magazine, whose writing competition helps discover new writing talent in Scotland.
The Cymera Prize for Speculative Short Fiction is open to any unpublished writer living in Scotland, and the theme for 2020’s competition was “Scotland in 2030”. What could life in a future Scotland be like? How will we be living – young, adult, mature – and what are the possibilities? What will be Scotland’s place in the world?
The winning entry was “Chrysalis” by Laura Scotland, which was announced at the Cymera 2020 Festival during an event with competition judges Neil Williamson, Anne Charnock and Noel Chidwick.
Watch Debbie Cannon read the story in the film below.
Read the winning story: Chrysalis by Laura Scotland
The two runners-up are also reproduced online.
Read Saplings by Sophie Charlotte Baumert
Read The Thief and the Watchdog by Katya Bacica
