Victoria Writers’ Society 8th Annual Writing Competition
Fiction
Judge: Terence Young
First Place: Girl Next Door by Adrienne Mercer
Adrienne primarily writes short fiction and creative non-fiction. Her work has appeared in Monday Magazine, Lost, and Ascent Aspirations, as well as in the anthologies: Sincerely Elvis (Hot Biscuit Productions, 2005), Body Breakdowns (Anvil, 2007) and She’s Shameless: Women Write About Growing Up, Rocking Out and Fighting Back (Tightrope, 2009). Adrienne is also the author of a young adult novel, Rebound (Lorimer, 2002).
Second Place: Ladysmith and the Black Firebird by Edeana Malcolm
Edeana says: I write and I write and I write some more. I hope you enjoy it. She has three published short stories and was a writer and editor of Stories United: Harvesting our Elders’ Wisdom. Edeana is currently finishing a trilogy called The Pleasure Gardener’s Companion, based on the lives of her 18th century ancestors.
Honourable mention: Without Henry by Monique Domovitch
Monique is a member of the Victoria Writers’ Society and a few private writer’s groups. She is presently working on her second novel, Getting Skinny.
Honourable Mention: The Santa Caper by Dick Hainsworth
Dick Hainsworth spent over 40 years as a writer and editor, in-house and freelance, in both the UK and Canada. After retirement he became, unexpectedly, a humour columnist for the Times Colonist. He has published short stories, non-fiction and light verse. He won a 1st, 2nd and two Honourable Mentions in the Humorous Short Story Competition in the Leacock International Heritage Festivals from 1992 to 1996. His poetry appears in two Canadian anthologies, Vintage 92 (The League of Canadian Poets) and Barbed Lyres (ed. Margaret Atwood, Key Porter Books, 1990). He is three-time winner of the Salmon Arm Sonnet Competition, took a 2nd at the International Shakespearean Sonnet Competition, University of Chicago, in 1991 and 3rd prize in the same year in the Burnaby Writers Society Poetry Competition.
Creative Non-Fiction
Judge: M.A.C. Farrant
First Place: Afflictions by Madeline Sonik
Madeline Sonik is an award-winning Victoria writer whose creative non-fiction, fiction and poetry have appeared in literary magazines internationally. Her books include Arms, Drying the Bones, Belinda and the Dustbunnys and Stone Sightings.
Second Place: Angels in Hell by Doreen Marion Gee
Raised in glorious James Bay, Doreen has been putting pen to paper for as long as she can remember. As a graduate of the University of Victoria, writing was an integral part of the curriculum, even with a science degree. In the past few years, her letters have been published in local papers and Maclean’s magazine. An article, The Rules of Life, was published in Monday Magazine. Particularly satisfying was having two submissions in local books, Hanging on to Paradise and South Park School: Memories Through the Decades. Presently, Doreen is a volunteer journalist and writer for the James Bay Beacon newspaper.
Honourable Mention: A Tunnel of Darkness: Living with Dissociative Identity Disorder by LisaBri
LisaBri is currently writing a memoir surrounding her experience of childhood sexual assault, which has been a healing catharsis. She is also writing a suspense novel. LisaBri has been published in Alone Together, Island Tides, The Phoenix and True Story. Monthly over the past two years she has entered the Wynterblue Publishing Contest (focused online in Northern Ontario) and has been published in the anthologies Confabulation 1 and Confabulation2.
Honourable Mention: The Cigar Band by C.J. Van Elslande
C.J. says her literary career is still in its infancy. She was rewarded quickly when the Windmill Herald published her essay Sinterklaas in its November 07 issue. Her essay Moments to Remember was published in the summer 2009 edition of Island Writer.
Poetry
Judge: Yvonne Blomer
First Place: Praise-song for Jenny by Wendy Donawa
Wendy has spent most of her adult life in Barbados, as teacher, artist and museum curator. She settled in on Vancouver Island a decade ago, and teaches academic writing at universities in BC and Alberta. Her poems have appeared in Caribbean literary journals, and in English Quarterly, Prairie Fire, and A Small Grace (chapbook edited by Patrick Lane). Her chapbook Sliding Toward Equinox (Rubicon Press) will come out this fall.
Second Place: News by Ulrike Narwani
Ulrike completed a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literature in 1977. Poetry as a creative part of her life surfaced unexpectedly four or five years ago. Yvonne Blomer’s course, “Freeing Yourself with Form”, in the fall of 2008 helped send her imagination in challenging new directions.
Honourable Mention: Signs by Julia Leggett
Julia was born in Calgary but grew up in Zimbabwe in Southern Africa. She is an avid reader and sporadic writer of poetry. Signs will be Julia’s first published work.
Honourable Mention: A Fisher’s Tale by Judith Millar
A writer of short stories, essays, poem and song lyrics, Judith Millar has won numerous awards for her creative writing. She is a frequent presenter at spoken-word events, including Nanaimo’s WordStorm, and especially enjoys giving readings of her humorous works. Judith moved to Nanaimo from Kitchener, Ontario in 2007.