Faculty staff members: Beata McMahon (Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology) and James Aust (Institute of Population Health) were recently celebrated as winner and runner-up respectively of the Liverpool Literary Festival Short Story Competition.
Entrants were tasked to write a short story of no longer than 1,500 words on the theme of 'anniversaries'. On Sunday 19 October, as part of the festival's 10th anniversary celebrations, Beata and James read out extracts of their work.
Beata McMahon, EUROPAC Data Navigator, Department of Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine, was awarded the prize for her short story; “Desmodus Pestiferus” which describes in rich detail the unexpected return followed by the re-animation of a lost vampiric love which had spanned over a century.
Beata explains: “Desmodus Pestiferus explores how much can change in a hundred years and how our memories shape us, and our future. The figure of the vampire with its rich history and cultural significance has helped me approach the theme “anniversary” from a different, slightly Gothic perspective.”
"The theme resonated with me because I celebrated a few important ones this year myself. This way, winning the 10th Literary Festival’s Short Story Competition in the Staff category means even more to me. I’ve really enjoyed returning to creative writing after a long break and this fantastic feedback is encouraging me to carry on writing.”
Beata studied English Literature and loves reading and writing science fiction, fantasy and horror. She is also interested in nature where she spends most of her time, taking photos of mushrooms and creepy crawlies.
James Aust, Admissions Administrator at the School of Allied Health Professions and Nursing was awarded runner up in the competition for his short story “Fish Supper”; a gentle yet emotionally potent tale of family, old and young against, celebrating the birthday of a loved one that has passed on, under the shadow of precarious mental faculties and the everyday background of family and community life.
James explains; “I felt the theme of “anniversaries” was quite an emotionally potent, complex and eclectic one.
“I moved to Liverpool over three years ago but prior to that I lived in South Wales for a decade and studied English Literature at BA and MA at Swansea University, so it felt natural for me to place the piece in South Wales, which is where my family come from on my Mum’s side.
“The idea of celebrating the birthday of someone lost seemed like a nice way of showing the joy and sorrow that comes with loving and losing a person. I wanted to highlight the precarity of memory and therefore of the very notion of anniversary, the tragedy of fading memory and the joy of seeing him have that spark of recognition right at the last. I also wanted to mirror this in the football match, Liverpool eking out a joyous last-minute equaliser, hope salvaged right at the end.”
Both Beata and James said that they really enjoyed sharing the experience with friends and family who had come to hear them read out their work, and to also meet the other category winners and runners-up. Both “Desmodus Pestiferus” and “Fish Supper” are available to read in full in the Literary Festival 2025 Anthology
This year, the Liverpool Literary Festival celebrated its 10-year anniversary bringing together best-selling authors including renowned writer, film critic and musician Mark Kermode, BAFTA-nominated screenwriter, best-selling author and Liverpool alumna; Emma Jane Unsworth, award-winning Young Adult author, Juno Dawson and Dr Nussaibah Younis, shortlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction..