Allen Fraser story wins 2018 Rhoda Bulter Award

'... entertaining and thought-provoking... employed excellent use of dialect'

The 2018 Rhoda Bulter Award competition was for a short story in the dialect on the theme of Da Wadder. The winner is Allen Fraser, tour guide and former weather forecaster at Sella Ness. His story was entitled 'Mairweet, Mairweet'.

The trophy, of local serpentine and silver, is presented annually by the Bulter family in memory of their mother, one of Shetland’s most significant dialect writers. The entries are also judged by the Bulter family.  John Bulter, speaking on behalf of his brothers and sisters, said 'It was a difficult task to settle on a winner, but we expected that, and as in previous years, the authors were anonymous to us during the judging. We were impressed by the different styles and types of stories - every entry has its merits and there was good dialect use. The winning story met the brief, and flowed well - we found it both entertaining and thought-provoking - and it employed excellent use of dialect, utilising everyday and less well-known dialect words.'

Allen Fraser said he felt both humbled and honoured to win the award. He had fond memories of both Rhoda and her husband, Dennis, who also worked for the Met Office.

The competition is administered by Shetland ForWirds. The story will be published in the Yule issue of the New Shetlander.