��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria graduate student pens 2024 Bridge Prize short story contest winning entry

trevor.kenney — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 14:23:05 +0000

Jeremy Audet is, at heart, a storyteller — and now he is an award-winning author. The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria graduate student’s short story, The Lobster, was selected as the best of the 187 entries for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s nationwide Bridge Prize short story contest.

Jeremy Audet earned the top prize of $7,500, the largest cash prize for student writing in Canada.

The win earned Audet the top prize of $7,500, the largest cash prize for student writing in Canada, and validated a process that was years in the making. Audet, a wildland firefighter in British Columbia, described the emotions he experienced when he learned he’d won the competition.

"When I received the call telling me I was being awarded the Bridge Prize, I was standing in an airfield in the Northern Rockies, waiting to be deployed to a new wildfire. As we spoke, helicopters and trucks came and went, a column of dark smoke thickened in the distance, and thousands of people nearby were being forced from their homes,” he said. “There was joy and relief in my heart, knowing that a story I had spent years working on had received such warm praise. I'm immensely grateful to the Bridge Prize organizers, Terry Whitehead and Dr. Shelly Wismath, the brilliant jurors, and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge for recognizing the strength of storytelling.”

Audet’s story was described as “dense and contemplative; the rhythm is tidal . . . the story is simultaneously speculative, contemporary, and historical. The writer has great talent, feeling and artistry,” commented Bridge Prize juror and Quebec author Madeleine Thien.

As the winner, Audet was able to work with Sirarose Wilensky, editor with House of Anansi Press, on The Lobster, which is now featured on the Bridge Prize website.

The biennial competition, established in 2020, is the only national writing competition of its kind in Canada and featured submissions from students in nine provinces. Only students attending colleges and universities in Canada can apply, with $12,000 in cash prizes awarded. The winner and three finalists also receive a $200 gift card courtesy of Munro’s Books of Victoria. New this year, the contest also recognized the best story written by an undergraduate student and the best written by a student at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

“Congratulations to Jeremy, the three finalists, and our new award winners for their compelling short stories,” says Dr. Shelly Wismath, retired dean of the School of Liberal Education and Bridge Prize administrator. “Once again, our local and main juries praised the high quality of writing, diverse styles and imaginative storytelling. The future of Canadian fiction is in very good hands.”

Other finalists, who were each awarded $1,000, included:

Susan Sechrist from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of British Columbia and her story Ecphrasis.

“Memorable characters and concepts in an efficient and innovative vignette structure. Had a collage-like feel, or mosaic-like, with the smaller daubs of colour creating the larger picture. Elegant and skillful,” concluded juror George Murray.

Ayda Niknami, also from UBC, created The Martyr’s Mother, which was described as, “Imaginative, fast-paced, interesting, visual. The Martyr’s Mother is commendable for being highly imaginative capturing the readers imagination. It was interesting and very visual,” said juror Michelle Good.

Camille Pavlenko, from UBC and a ULethbridge alumna, was the third finalist with her story A Disease of the Hollow Organs.

“The writing is inviting, open and imaginative, with characters interacting and intertwining beautifully like a well-orchestrated dance,” commented juror Danny Ramadan. “The metaphors were delightful, and the command of the plot was strong and capable.”

A new prize recognizing the top undergraduate story honour went to Caitlyn Harding of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of the Fraser Valley. Her piece, If Normandie Avenue Could Talk, also won her $1,000.

Indie MacGarva earned $500 as the best story from ULethbridge writers with Alice Is There.

The cycle now begins for the 2026 Bridge Prize with the competition’s Main Jury to be announced in November. Submissions for the event open in January 2025.

Playright and Striking Pose winners named

trevor.kenney — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 21:51:37 +0000

For the second year in a row, James Wade, a BFA multidisciplinary major, has taken first place in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's PlayRight Prize competition.

The $5,000 in prize money allotted to the PlayRight Prize and Striking Prose competitions is one of the highest awards in the country, with $1,500 going to each first place winner, and $750 and $250 being handed out to the second and third place finishers respectively.

Wade's winning PlayRight entry this year is True Believers. Meanwhile, the top prize in the Striking Prose short story category went to, Wreck on the Highway, by David Bryant. Bryant, who just completed his BA/BEd degree, took the top prize in 2009 and placed third in the 2010 event. Both first place entries will be read in a public performance on Thursday, Mar. 31 at 7 p.m. in the David Spinks Theatre.

Aislinn MacCulloch took second place in the Striking Prose competition with, Getting Martha Home, while Camille Fairbanks', Sacrament, took the third prize. In the PlayRight competition, Camille Pavlenko took second place for, Permission, and Shelly Eli's, Praying for the Man, placed third.

Generously supported by U of L alumnus Terry Whitehead, the competition encourages excellence and development in student writing.

Wade's play, True Believers, is set in the studio of comic book artists and explores the dangerous intersections between art and politics, especially when personal relationships are on the line. The PlayRight Prize jury found that the combination of insightful human emotions and imaginative theatrical concepts provided True Believers with all the ingredients for a compelling stage event.

Bryant's short story, Wreck on the Highway, was called a brilliant and gut-wrenching account of the emotional fall-out experienced by a volunteer fireman's attendance at a fatal traffic accident. The Striking Prose jury found Bryant's writing sophisticated and quite publishable, commenting that he makes the external world and the internal landscape of his story utterly believable.

The juries in both categories had numerous positive things to say about the winning entries. Of MacCulloch's writing, they commented that it showed originality and an ability to project a narrative voice that holds the reader's attention. Her story, Getting Martha Home, is a poignantly comic story about a struggling native woman's friendship with a bemused librarian who tries to help improve her lot in life.

Jurors felt that Fairbanks told a moving story in a convincing manner. Her entry, Sacrament, is a story of memory and mortality, contrasting the idealization of death (and life) with an almost savage realism from the consciousness of the dying protagonist.

Pavlenko's play, Permission, was touted for its quirky sense of humour and a cast of eccentric characters, which offered a clever commentary on the insecurities and anxieties of relationships. Jurors found that Eli's, Praying for a Man, introduces a pair of vibrant characters, who capture audience interest with their outrageously funny and endlessly passionate observations about life on the reserve.

To view the February issue of the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

UNews - Camille Pavlenko

��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ of Victoria graduate student pens 2024 Bridge Prize short story contest winning entry

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Playright and Striking Pose winners named

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��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria graduate student pens 2024 Bridge Prize short story contest winning entry