Carnforth author wins Jane Austen Literacy Foundation writing prize

The competition attracted entries from more than 25 countries with 17 judges selecting the longlist of 10 stories.

A second panel of judges, including Susannah Harker (Jane Bennet in BBC TV’s 1995 Pride & Prejudice), Justin Young (lead writer on the recently released Sanditon), Helena Kelly (author of Jane Austen – The Secret Radical) and Caroline Jane Knight (Jane Austen’s fifth great niece and author of Jane & Me: My Austen Heritage), then selected three finalists before the public was asked to vote for their favourite of these stories during a 10-day window.

The authors of the stories remained anonymous until the winner was announced at the Jane Austen Regency Picnic in the grounds of Chawton House, Hampshire, on Sunday June 18.

Faith’s and the other two finalists’ stories will be recorded as an audiobook by writer, comedienne and multi award-winning narrator Alison Larkin, and will be released on Audible later this year.

All proceeds from the publication of the stories will support literacy projects, including funding a teacher for a year for Schools for Syria, educating refugee children.

The Jane Austen Literacy Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation founded by Caroline Jane Knight, the last of Jane Austen’s nieces to grow up at Chawton House, on the family’s ancestral estate where Jane herself lived and wrote.

It is run by a global team of volunteers with the mission to Connect Through Literacy and support literacy projects in developing communities around the world.

"Winning the competition was a lovely surprise,” said Faith. “Having my story read out at the event by Alison Larkin and in the company of guests such as author Gill Hornby and descendants of Jane Austen herself in the grounds of the former home of Jane Austen’s brother was an absolute honour!

“Small Print shares some of the gothic elements of my novel The Woman in the Walls but uses humour and accentuates the importance of carefully reading the descriptions and reviews before making online purchases.”

Foundation chair Caroline Jane Knight said: “The standard of entries this year was outstanding, and the final vote was very close.

"Small Print is a wonderful combination of a familiar and relatable protagonist with a deliciously dark and unexpected twist.

"It’s encapsulated everything you would want from a short story, is a very worthy winner of our competition and addition to our collection of Jane Austen Literacy Foundation winning stories audiobooks, raising money for literacy projects,”

Faith is based between Kendal and Carnforth and self-published her first novel The Woman in the Walls during lockdown.

The novel is set in Kendal and is available from The Carnforth Bookshop and the Book Lounge in Kirkby Lonsdale.

Faith has an MA in creative writing from Lancaster University and her work has been shortlisted in flash fiction and short story competitions.

By day she is a marketing manager and her CV includes being a magazine editor in Hong Kong and serving at sea in the Royal Navy, where she volunteered to be the ship’s librarian.

To read the three winning stories and for more information about the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation, including its literacy projects, school resources and details of upcoming writing competitions, visit www.janeaustenlf.org