Judges

Paul Blezard

Now that he's a Hay Festival institution, it's easy to forget that Paul has had a career including stints in stockbroking, rock stardom (in Bulgaria), modelling, chartering yachts, selling art and working for the United Nations in war-torn Rwanda! Now settled as an award winning presenter for literary shows on radio and television, Paul is the perfect choice for the Hay Short Story Contest due to his love of the area and his professional expertise, having interviewed many of the world's most famous authors from J.K. Rowling to Wole Soyinka.

Ian Finlayson

Iain Finlayson grew up in Scotland and attended Edinburgh University before moving to London to pursue a literary career.  He began by writing for various national newspapers along with glossy style and lifestyle magazines before beginning his career as a serious writer.  Ian is the author of several books including The Moth and the Candle (a Biography of James Boswell), Writers in Romney Marsh, The Scots, Denim: An American Legend and Browning, a Biography of Robert Browning.

Betty Maura-Cooper

Betty Maura-Cooper is currently the Chair of Hay & District Community Support, the charity which will benefit from the proceeds of the competition. She is also a writer, having had three books published by Robert Hale, one of which, ‘Truth to Tell’ was translated into Italian, and all three were published in Large Print for public libraries. (Her nom-de-plume was Marigold West!) She won several of the Writers News short story competitions, including being runner-up in the Annual Short Story competition and went on to tutor for the Writers News Short Story distance learning course for several years. She was again runner-up in the Llangollen International Short Story competition 1998, the winners being published in an anthology entitled ‘Objects of Desire’. In her most productive phase during the 1990’s she had stories in several women’s magazines and articles of local interest in the Western Mail and Country Quest.

Diana Blunt

Diana has been the official bookseller for the Hay festival of Literature for 20 years.