Jacqueline P Vincent

Yesterday I received a notification that I’d won third place in a short story contest. It was a lovely surprise that made my day.

The story I submitted, A modern Day Hedge Witch, is based in Galicia and loosely based on a mixture of the characters I’ve come across in this lovely part of Spain, and my imagination.

This year I wrote a different story for the competition and asked myself questions about independent women but who practiced a craft as old as time. How would a hedge-witch earn a living? Would she lead a double life, as past wise women or witches have had to for millennia? Why would she live in Galicia? What are the current prejudices against lone women who live in the woods? And finally, does modern technology help or hinder?

I thoroughly enjoyed writing this story and found it hard not to write the full-length novel. One day I will.

They will include my story in the wonderful anthology, The Good Life in Galicia by Sophie Bush.

Also well done to the winner, Abigail Thorne and the second prize winner, Ian Barber.