The winner of the 2017 James White Award is “The Morrigan” by Stewart Horn. The award, established in 2000, offers non-professional writers the opportunity to have their work published in Interzone, the UK’s leading sf magazine.

Commenting on the winning story on behalf of the judging panel, David Gullen said:

The Morrigan works very well, a very tight piece of writing, confident and accomplished. It breaks the rule on colloquial speech and not only makes it work but is stronger for it. An original take on a very old tale with good pace, and sense of time and place.

Horn’s story wins £200 and will be published in a future issue of Interzone.

The judges also chose to give a special commendation to “May the Pain Guide You Home” by Daniel Roy. Award Adminstrator Martin McGrath said, “Daniel’s story scored highly with all the judges, it packs a powerful emotional punch in a well-written and tightly told story.”

The winning story was chosen from a field of almost 200 entrants this year.

The judges were Lorna Gibb, David Gullen, and Konrad Waleski.

[Thanks to  Mark-kitteh for the story.]