Seven BC writers are in the running for this year’s Okanagan Short Story Contest sponsored by UBC Okanagan’s Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies and the Central Okanagan Foundation.
What: Wrap-up event for Okanagan Short Story Content
Who: Fiction writers across BC’s southern interior
When: Wednesday, March 27, at 7 pm
Where: The Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art, 421 Cawston Ave., Kelowna
Seven BC writers are in the running this year for the Okanagan Short Story Contest’s top prize.
The contest, co-sponsored by UBC Okanagan’s Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies (FCCS) and the Central Okanagan Foundation, received 90 entries in the adult category and 39 in the high school category.
“It is always great to see how many submissions we get for the contest,” says Nancy Holmes, Associate Professor of Creative Writing. “We all had a great time reading the submissions and narrowing it down to this shortlist.”
Shortlisted authors: Adult Category
- Adam Carter—Kelowna, BC
- Aly K. Benson—Kelowna, BC
- Clare Thiessen—Vernon, BC
- Debbra Mikaelsen—Penticton, BC
- Elenna Hopes—Nelson, BC
- Finnian Burnett—Princeton, BC
- Tyler Finley—Kelowna, BC
Shortlisted authors: High School Category
- Alyssa Clayson—Summerland, BC
- Cesca Frouws—Kelowna, BC
- Dania Wilson—West Kelowna, BC
- Hazel Calder—Vernon, BC
- Matea Massa—Vernon, BC
- Maylyn Tarves—Kimberley, BC
- Sara Gray—Kelowna, BC
Tyler Finley (UBCO, English) and Aly K. Benson (UBCV, Art History and Visual Culture) are alumni. Adam Carter is a Bachelor of Media Studies student, and Clare Thiessen owns and operates Broke Press in Vernon.
The Okanagan Short Story Contest awards the best new short stories by fiction writers in the southern interior of British Columbia. Past winners have gone on to publish with Penguin Random House, Arsenal Pulp Press and NeWest Press, as well as numerous international and national magazines and journals.
FCCS is offering cash prizes to the top three stories—$1,000, $400 and $200. The first prize winner also earns a one-week retreat to The Woodhaven Eco Culture Centre in Kelowna. The top story by a high school student receives a cash prize of $200.
The winners of the Okanagan Short Story Contest are to be announced by celebrated Canadian author and contest judge Shelley Wood. To learn more, go to fccs.ok.ubc.ca/short-story
