300 entries this year in both the adult category and the under 18 division.

No poems or essays were accepted and the stories had to concentrate on the theme of Christmas and Bermuda.

Winner of the adult category is Robert Jones, who wrote `Anyone who had a heart', a story about Ted Pierce, a man who has an opinion on everything and everyone. He begins to see things in a different light after he suffers a heart attack in the period leading up to Christmas.

The runner-up in the adult category is Mark Booth. In his tale, `The Homestead', we hear what Christmas brings for a young woman who returns home to find her father diagnosed as having Alzheimer's Disease.

In the under 18 division, Amanda Neale-Robinson won first prize with her story about a `Politically Correct Christmas'. The humorous tale, full of recognisable Bermudian characters, follows the exploits of Monishia and Jevon as they attempt to find shelter for one night.

The story picks up after a pregnant Monishia gives birth, and shepherds, in the form of our local politicians, come to acknowledge the blessed event.

Anya Maas is the runner-up in the under 18 class for her tale, `Dear Father'.

In the form of a letter written by a young girl to her father, the story describes the Christmas she spent in the war-ravaged year of 1941 while her father was in England serving in the army.

Terrified by the Germans who have occupied Bermuda, she and her mother are pleasantly surprised to find that the soldiers are actually quite human.

Receiving awards for stories showing exceptional promise were Lisa J. Barnes and Kareen Richardson. In `Holiday Stranger', Ms Barnes writes of a woman who marries without telling her parents. She returns to Bermuda for the holidays, worrying that he will not be accepted by her family.

In `All She Ever Wanted', Ms Richardson tells how a female executive struggles to combine the demands of her busy job with the needs of her family.

Cash prizes will be presented to the winners on Monday, December 16 at The Royal Gazette . The winning stories and also some honourable mentions will be published in our special Christmas Greetings catalogue on Monday, December 23, 1996.