Writing Contest Winners
24th Annual – 2025
Fiction
Judge: Bara Hladik
1st Place – Nigel Greenwood, Better Company
2nd Place – Phil Calvert, Desperado
3rd Place – Kim Harrison, This Was My House Today
Creative Non-Fiction
Judge: Caroline Mufford
1st Place – Karin Hedetniemi, Still, I Do Not Love Paris
2nd Place – Emily Scott, The Kiss Is Always Where It Falls Apart
3rd Place – Don Niedermeyer, Past and Presence
Poetry
Judge: Marie Metaphor Specht
1st Place – Kath Healing, a quiet animal survives you
2nd Place – S.M. Perkins Carr, Chasing Home
3rd Place – Diane Massam, Visiting Hiroshima
23nd Annual – 2024
Fiction
Judge: Pauline Holdstock
1st Place – Meg Todd, The Line
2nd Place – Kristan Saefkow, Sightlines
3rd Place – R. Paul Faubert, Come Home
3rd Place – Suzanne Malone, Slingshot
Creative Non-Fiction
Judge: Briony Penn
1st Place – Claire E. Addey-Jibb, From the Ashes
2nd Place – Chihiro Jayne Ebara, The Dent in the Burial Mound
3rd Place – Kim Harrison, At Genoa Bay
Poetry
Judge: Arleen Pare
1st Place – Hope West, for a moment of everything
2nd Place – Nicole Johannson, Ocean Heart
3rd Place – Nicole Johannson, 9:23 pm
22nd Annual – 2023
Fiction
Judge: John Gould
1st Place – Jann Everard, Four Minutes
2nd Place – Loucas Raptis, To Hang an Elephant
3rd Place – Michael Pennock, Paddy and Garnet at the Pond
Creative Non-Fiction
Judge: Deborah Campbell
1st Place – Kim Harrison, Days of the Pink Pills
2nd Place – Michael McGovern, Hire Education
3rd Place – Patricia Brooke, A Different Sun
Poetry
Judge: Marlene Grand Maître
1st Place – Clare Sharpe, The Marriage Bed
2nd Place – Jane Pepper, Young Compleat Angler
3rd Place – Britta Gundersen, Fudge
21st Annual – 2022
Fiction
Judge: Jennifer Manuel
1st Place – Chad Ganske, Missing Teeth
2nd Place – Loucas Raptis, The Impromptu Resurrection of Elefterios Sklavos
3rd Place – Danielle Renaud, After Ellie
Creative Non-Fiction
Judge: Stephanie Harrington
1st Place – Paul Kendrick, Kairos Time on the Grid
2nd Place – Deborah Graham, Such a Busy Road
3rd Place – Joan McHardy, Still Standing in Line
Poetry
Judge: Daniel Scott
1st Place – Nicole Moen, Stifle a Yarn
2nd Place – Sarah Weaver, Two Mid-Winter Nights
3rd Place – Daniela Lorenzi, Evasion
20th Annual – 2021
Fiction
Judge: Tricia Dower
1st Place – Loucas Raptis, My Father’s Portal
2nd Place – Michael Maitland, In Death There is Life (Insurance)
Honourable Mentions: Kim Harrison, Kids of the Free Range and Leanne Stepp, Liminal Spaces
Creative Non-Fiction
Judge: Yvonne Blomer
1st Place – Kim Harrison, Six Months in a Hammock
2nd Place – Britta Gunderson-Bryden, The Ambassador’s Cat
Honourable Mentions: Sharon McInnes, Disappearing and Debra Henry, Family Tree
Poetry
Judge: Barbara Pelman
1st Place – April Ripley, Early Onset
2nd Place – Donald Niedermayer, Lockdown Haikus
Honourable Mentions: Melanie Higgs, Brigid’s Gift and K.J. Ives, Lament
19th Annual – 2020
FICTION
Judge: Julie Paul
1st prize: Sharon McInnes – Various Functions of Fire
2nd prize: Loucas Raptis – Life of the Osprey
Honourable Mention: Garth Von Buchholz – Will the Circle Be Unbroken
Honourable Mention: J P McLean – Boone Park
POETRY
Judge: Susan Braley
1st prize: Ulrike Narwani – Wild Strawberries
2nd prize: Ahmad Anthony Miles – Tree Poem
Honourable Mention: Mary Nelson – Springtime Elixir
Honourable Mention: Neil Garvie – Rumours from Wuhan
CREATIVE NON-FICTION
Judge: Robin Stevenson
1st prize: Jude Morton – Borders
2nd prize: Maureen Magee – Beggars and Brides
Honourable Mention: Gloria Lorenzen – Scorched: Lucid Thoughts in Mexico
Honourable Mention: Bill Engleson – Lying in Wait
18th Annual – 2019
FICTION
Judge: Michael McGovern
1st prize: Edeana Malcolm – Menage a Trois
2nd prize: Eve Ruth – Oak Moon
3rd prize: KD McDougall – Meteor Response
POETRY
Judge: Judith Castle
1st prize: Cathy Ready – Whispers in the Blood
2nd prize: Gisela Ruebsaat – A Tale Told to my Daughter on her Wedding Day
3rd prize: Joy Huebert – Cheese Melt
CREATIVE NON-FICTION
Judge: Alex Greer
1st prize: Mary Brackenbury – My Fiery Red Life
2nd prize: Dianne Common – Once Upon a Queen’s Throne a Commoner Sat
3rd prize: Tamara Grandson – A Voice in Time
17th Annual – 2018
FICTION
Judge: Robert Wiersema
1st prize: Debra Henry
2nd prize: Vicki W. Drybough
3rd prize: Ada Robinson
POETRY
Judge: Agartu Ali
1st prize: Katy Weicker
2nd prize: Amanda Merrit
3rd prize: Edeana Malcolm
CREATIVE NON-FICTION
Judge: Lynne Van Luven
1st prize: Anne Hopkinson
2nd prize: Maureen Magee
3rd prize: Diane Young
16th Annual – 2017
FICTION
Judge: Alex Van Tol
1st prize: Loucas Raptis – They Name Me, More or Less, Immortal
2nd prize: Trish Brooke – Conflict
3rd prize: Debra Henry – Rescuing Robins
POETRY
Judge: Terry Ann Carter
1st prize: Michael McGovern – Puebla: the place, beggars, description
2nd prize: Sheila Martindale – What is Lost
3rd prize: Pat Smekal – Sloth
CREATIVE NON-FICTION
Judge: Myrtle Siebert
1st prize: Michael Lalonde – Smokey Saunders
2nd prize: Judy Burgess – A Fairy Tale of Sorts
3rd prize: Elaine Harvey – Almost There
15th Annual – 2016
FICTION
Judge: Julie Paul
1st prize: Debra Henry
2nd prize: Judy Millar
3rd prize: Liz Walker
POETRY
Judge: Yvonne Blomer
1st prize: Matthew Gallagher
2nd prize: Judy Millar
3rd prize: Kelly Madden
CREATIVE NON-FICTION
Judge: Myrtle Siebert
1st prize: Cathy Korpela
2nd prize: Trish Brook
3rd prize: Maureen Magee
14th Annual – 2015
FICTION
Judge: Jeanne Iribarne
1st prize: Sarah Pollard for Lives for Sale
2nd prize: Katrin Horowitz for The Box/ A Love Story
3rd prize: Debra Henry for On the Road to Anywhere
POETRY
Judge: Arlene Paré
1st prize: John G. Smith for Departures
2nd prize: Jill Talbot for Love in Infant Monkeys
3rd prize: Kyla Pawlyshyn for Hills at Dusk
CREATIVE NON-FICTION
Judge: Christine Kirchner
1st prize: Tom Gurgal for I Lied to the Dalai Lama
2nd prize: Judy Millar for Snoopy and Me and the King of Burundi
3rd prize: Lachlan Ross for The Seaside Swings
13th Annual – 2014
POETRY
Judge: Alisa Gordaneer
1st Prize: Judith Castle – for Swimming to Russia
2nd Prize: Linda K Thompson – for Stawamus Chief
3rd Prize: Judy McIlmoyl – for Parables
FICTION
Judge: Erin Fisher
1st Prize: Vic Parsons – for Fabricio’s Bridge
2nd Prize: Judith Castle – for The Bracelet
3rd Prize: Derek Peach – for Advent Calendar
CREATIVE NON-FICTION
Judge: Frances Backhouse
1st Prize: Lara Reynolds – for Delicate Things
2nd Prize: Jean Oliver – for All the Way to China
3rd Prize: Dennis J Murphy – for The Men of Steel
12th Annual – 2013
POETRY
Judge: Dvora Levin
1st Prize: Kyle Kushnir for Low Tide
2nd Prize: Marlene Grand Maitre for The Other Storm
3rd Prize: Daniel Scott for Tenacious
FICTION
Judge: Kathleen Pearson
1st Prize: Judy Burgess for Cougar Bait
2nd Prize: John Paterson for Christmas Morning
3rd Prize: E.C. Nahne for Technology
CREATIVE NON-FICTION
Judge: Jack Knox
1st Prize: Jenny Vester for How to Break an Old Man’s Heart
2nd Prize: Christine Henry for Falling Into Snow
3rd Prize: Barbara Black for Que vive el toro
11th Annual – 2012
POETRY
First place: Susan Braley
Second place: Judith Castle
Third Place: Linda K. Thompson
FICTION
First place: Judy Burgess
Second place: Trish Brooke
CREATIVE NON-FICTION
First place: Michael McGovern
Second place: Kathryn McAllister
Third Place: Laura Seabury Smith
10th Annual – 2011
POETRY
First place: Ulrike Narwani
Second place: Derek Peach
Third place: Lee Danielle Hubbard
FICTION
First place: Diana Jones
Second place: Judy Burgess
Third place: Judy Burgess
CREATIVE NON-FICTION
First Place: C.J. Van Elslande
Second Place: Valerie Warder
Third Place: Laura Seabury Smith