Writers from the West and East Kootenay areas submitted exciting, fresh work in five categories.
We received 34 submissions from all over the Kootenay area; some from as far away as Invermere, Kimberley and Grand Forks.
The judges were looking for originality, creativity, as well as just plain good writing. There were several interesting submissions in the New Canadians category but the other new category added this year, Indigenous Writers, saw no entries, unfortunately.
This was disappointing to both the organizing committee and to our judge, Jordan Abel, who was looking forward to encouraging some new voices in that field. We had good submissions in the other categories and we would particularly like to commend the two young writers who won the Youth category. Well done.
The winners are:
Poetry
- First prize: “Seed Saving our Family Tree” by Marte Stuart, Nelson
- Second prize: “I Will Remember” by Ron Robinson, Nelson
Fiction
- First prize: “The Sudden Sorrowful Death…” by Bill Macpherson, Harrop
- Second prize: “The Gloaming” by Alan Ross, Burton
Non-fiction
- First prize: “The Art of Ironing” by Jana Danniels, Nelson
- Second prize: “More Than Just My Mother’s Daughter” by Cindy McCallum Miller, Castlegar
New Canadian
- First prize: “About an Unforgettable Gift” by Elisabeth von Ah, Slocan
- Second prize: “A New Beginning” by Wilhelmina Triveri, Grand Forks
Youth
- First prize: “Strong” by Bethany Pardoe, Nelson
- Second prize: “The Seamstress” by Alaska R Hoskins, Castlegar
Winners receive cash prizes and e-publication as part of Selkirk College’s Black Bear Review. Each winner will also receive two copies of a print edition of the anthology.
Our sincere thanks to all the wonderful writers who submitted and to our hard-working judges: Avi Silberstein, Patti Humphries, Vivien Bowers and Joan Exley.
On a sadder note, we regret to announce that the KLC Organizing Committee is disbanding. The Competition was a fixture of the literary community in the Kootenays from 2004 to 2018. Originally it ran under the auspices of the Nelson and District Arts Council then under the Kootenay Writers Society. However, due to a lack of active volunteer support, we are unable to continue this event.