2007 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, forty-one Union members donated their time and expertise to read 260 submissions, distilling them to a short list of twelve strong entries. The final jury — Bonnie Burnard (Giller award-winning author and short story writer), Robert Kroetsch (Governor General’s Literary Award-winning author), and Anne Simpson (Governor General’s Literary Award-winning poet and author) — chose the following winner from the short list of twelve contenders.

WINNER
"Like I Was Fire"
by John Blackmore

The judges were impressed by the momentum of the writing, the complexity of the dialogue, and by the sophistication of the details, particularly the use of smell. Scenes were realized economically, images were often original, and more than one thing was happening at once. (Jury)

John Blackmore is currently completing a book of short stories while working to secure an agent and publisher for his first novel, “Life after Madeleine.” He has previously won the Writers’ Union Postcard Story Competition and was short listed for the Union’s Short Prose Competition in both 2005 and 2006. His stories have also been short listed for the CBC Literary Competitions. He was educated in Halifax where he earned degrees in physics, literature, and journalism, and started his writing career as a newspaper reporter in Newfoundland, his home province. He now lives in Ottawa, working as a writer and editor.

FINALISTS
“Spilt Milk” by Beverly Akerman
“The White Gorilla” by John Blackmore
“The Other Side of the Window” by Julie Curwin
”Model Specimen” by Kelly Dignan
“Secrets of the Cool Damp Earth” by Ken Duffin
“The Silver Pendant” by Helen Helvoigt
“Eclipse” by Amal Masri
“Cousin Chuck” by Honey Oerbach
”Nothing, Darling” by Alice Petersen
“Lethbridge in November” by Nancy Pincombe
“The Canuck Hockey Club of Paris, 1919” by Kim Thompson

READERS FOR THE COMPETITION
Diane Baker-Mason, Thelma Barer-Stein, Shannon Bramer, Claire Cameron,
Betty Cullen, Anne Denoon, Margaret Slavin Dyment, Ann Farrell, Kevin Marc Fournier, Susan Glickman, Marjory Gordon, Nancy Graham, Nan Gregory, Sylvia Gunnery, Kristen den Hartog, Betty Jane Hegerat, Mary L. Keenan, Michael Kohn,
Monica Kulling, Simon Leigh, J. Hugh MacDonald, Anna Jean Mallinson,
Dona Paul Massel, Micheline Maylor, Anne Logan McNamara, Michael Mirolla,
Victoria Morgan, John Mortensen, George Payerle, Leslie Hall Pinder,
Bill Schermbrucker, Olive Senior, Susan Evans Shaw, Elaine Slater, Mary W. Walters, Bryna Wasserman, Marg Wilson, Cathleen With.

JURY
Bonnie Burnard, Robert Kroetsch, and Anne Simpson.

The Writers' Union of Canada is our country's national organization representing professional authors of books. Founded in 1973, the Union is dedicated to fostering writing in Canada, and promoting the rights, freedoms, and economic well being of all writers. For more information, please visit www.writersunion.ca.

- 30 -

top