Rome's oldest Irish pub announces competition winners

The Fiddler's Elbow has announced the winners of its short story competition "Pub Life", which was launched earlier this year. The competition was open to entries in English and Italian, and offered substantial prize money including a top prize of €400.

In joint first place are Jason O'Rourke from Belfast with "The Recital", and Sara d’Alessandro from Novara with “L’esistenza in un bicchiere". The second prize went to Gerry Dorrian from Cambridge for "The Walk"; third place to Dan Dweyer from New Zealand for "Day Shift At The Eastern", and honourable mention to Italian Elena Marisol Brandolini for “Come al pub".

The competition's “Pub Life" theme required writers to describe the pub as a microcosm of humanity "stuffed into a pint glass".

The man behind the idea is known to all who have entered the door of the Fiddler's Elbow since it opened in 1976: the pub's owner Gino Bottigliero who was assisted in selecting the winning entries by a jury that included university professors of English literature, a diplomat and a senior librarian.

Bottigliero told Wanted in Rome that the pub received 32 entries, 18 of which were in English, and that all of the winners live outside Rome.

The winners can be seen on the Fiddler's Elbow website.