The Writers' Union of Canada : Short Prose Competition 2004

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2004 Prize Winner

The Union initiated the Short Prose Competition in 1993 in honour of its twentieth anniversary. The Competition aims to discover, encourage, and promote new writers of short prose. Entry is limited to writers who are not yet published in book format, in order to provide opportunity and exposure to developing writers.

This year, thirty-two Union members donated their time and expertise to read over 330 submissions, distilling them to a shortlist of twelve strong entries. The final jury – Ken McGoogan (author of both fiction and non-fiction, winner of the Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize and the CAA history award, his latest works include Fatal Passage and Ancient Mariner), Pauline Holdstock (author of Beyond Measure and recently short listed for the Giller Prize), and Bernice Morgan (author of Canadian bestseller, Waiting for Time ) – chose the following winner from the shortlist of 12 contenders.

WINNER
“Road Conditions” by Natasha Laurence

The judges chose "Road Conditions", praising it as sophisticated in conception, sensibility and craft. The story shifts between thought and dialogue, an intriguing orchestration that keeps the reader alert, mirrors what happens in a close relationship, and brings the whole to a coherent, logical crescendo. The whole is understated, consistent in tone and executed without melodrama or showy effects - sophisticated fiction. (Jury)

Natasha Laurence, former Managing Editor of Edmonton's street newspaper Our Voice, began writing full time in 2004 when she was awarded an Alberta Foundation for the Arts grant to complete a creative non-fiction manuscript -"Notes From a Prairie Silence". Her short story, "You Can't Win For Losin' " was published in AlbertaViews in 2001. She lives in Edmonton with her partner and three of her six children.

HONOURABLE MENTION
“Against the Wall” by Elizabeth Venart, Elgin, New Brunswick

FINALISTS
“Lost” by Sheilagh Guy Murphy, St. John's, Newfoundland
“Electronic Ambition” by Sarah Ellen Goldstein, Ottawa, Ontario
“By Any Other Name” by Renate M. Mohr, Ottawa, Ontario
“Tremble Together” by Renate M. Mohr, Ottawa, Ontario
“Accidentals” by Michelle Butler Hallett, Mount Pearl, Newfoundland
“My Name is Violet” by Joanne Vannicola, Toronto, Ontario
“Stupid Sky” by Leslie Vryenhoek, Winnipeg, Manitoba
“Impress Upon Us The Wonders” by Eliza Moret, Edmonton, Alberta
“How my mother looked” by Christine Fischer Guy, Toronto, Ontario
“Deviations” by Tanya Ambrose, Mallorytown, Ontario

READERS FOR THE COMPETITION
Meredith Andrew, Trysh Ashby-Rolls, Diane Baker-Mason, Ingeborg Boyens, Karleen Bradford, Elaine Clow-Martin, Robert Collins, Anne Denoon, Olga M. Dey-Bergmoser, Kelly Di Domenico, Lucy Falcone, Donald R. Gordon, Dorothy Joan Harris, Lisa Herman, David Homel, George K. Ilsley, John F. Jansen in de Wal, Michael Johansen, Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, Tanya Lloyd Kyi, Kathy-Diane Leveille, Anne Louise MacDonald, Anne Logan McNamara, Allen Morgan, John Mortensen, Deborah Nicholson, Ken Rivard, Stuart Ross, Lorraine M. Williams.

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