IT IS an accomplishment to win any prize, so to triumph against international competition is a magnificent achievement.

This is the attainment of Tavistock's Tom Vowler who has won the Scott Prize with his anthology entitled, 'The Method and Other Stories'.

This prize is an annual award made to the author of what is adjudged as the best first collection of short stories of the year.

Tom Vowler now has a publishing contract and this outstanding work will be published around the globe. Even without reading the work of other entrants into the competition, it is easy to understand how the 38-year old writer gained such a prestigious award.

For it is difficult to over-state the quality of his writing, its power, perception, insight into human nature's strengths, foibles and faults.

His use of words is masterly, both in their selection and number; indeed, here truly is a gifted short story writer — with the emphasis, generally, being on the 'short'. Not that there is any brevity to the actual book as it contains 20 separate tales. The longest, though, is under 4,000 words, with the briefest fewer than 400 — an essay named 'Breathe', a riveting piece of macabre prose.

This is a mark of a gifted exponent of the genre, the ability to hold the readers' attention, to satisfy with the creation of a theme and story line, yet to do it within the confines of minimalism in terms of words.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in 'The Last Supper', a searing, tragic tale that chills — but which contains fewer than 1,200 words.

Such quality pervades, however, no matter how long the story — simply the more words, the more comprehensive the coverage, in terms of relationships, story-line and depth.

'Busy, Come, What' — the fraught relationship between a brother and sister as they sort out the affairs, and the house, of their father following his death. Their polarisation of attitudes towards their parents, with the sister totally alienated from her mother (still living), since her walking out on the family many years previously.

'They may not mean to, but they do' — a love story, but not one for those who desire a happy ending; 'The Little Man' — a stranger atmospheric but compelling tale; 'Reload' — a description of the train journey of an elderly man from Plymouth to Paddington, carrying an ancient pistol with which to wreak revenge upon those who had murdered his son - and the triumph of his single-minded-ness, when he arrives at his destination.

Such stories as these exemplify the panoramic scope of Tom Vowler as a writer.

Indeed, every tale in the book has a taste and quality of its own, and fulfills the author's stated desire — 'I'd like to think that there's something for everyone in the stories'.

He describes them as 'Tales that shock and inspire, move and stir the reader'.

They do all this — and more. This anthology is not for those who want a gentle, reassuring read; rather they are tales which at times disturb, sadden, mind concentrate, chill, perhaps even alarm the reader — but there are none that will be abandoned half-read.

A small minus to some could be a feeling that, perhaps, there are a few too many expletives scattered about but nothing can detract from the reality that 'The Method and Other Stories' is a memorable anthology - good tales, written by a craftsman. Much more will be heard of Tom Vowler and his work.

'The Method and Other Stories' by Tom Vowler, (ISBN 978-1-84471-804-7) published by SALT Publishing, available in bookshops priced £8.99.