UNews - Kiki Benzon

Writers rewarded with 2015 Plays and Prose prizes

trevor.kenney — Wed, 18 Feb 2015 21:19:56 +0000

Thanks to a generous ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge alumnus, undergraduate students have the opportunity to flex their creative-writing muscles, win cash, earn recognition, and have their work presented in a public reading on Thursday, Mar. 26 at 7 p.m. in the David Spinks Theatre.

The 2015 winners, including top row from left to right are Garrett Bishoff, Brayden Haidenger and AJ Baragar. Bottom row from left to right are Emma Dering, Blair Yoxall and Rodrigo Henriquez.

Alumnus Terry Whitehead (BA '94), whose aim is to encourage excellence and help develop student writing skills, generously donates $5,000 in prizes each year to the Striking Prose and Play Right Prize competitions. First place winners in both competitions receive a $1,500 prize, second prize is $750 and third is $250, making these some of the most lucrative awards in the country for undergraduate student writing competitions. The competitions are open to all U of L undergraduate students and this year winners came from four different areas – History, English, New Media and Dramatic Arts.

Play Right Prize Winners

History major, Garrett Bishoff earned first place in the Play Right Prize for his play Detritus.

“Of all entries to this competition, this script demonstrated the strongest potential for growth and development. The playwright has playfully interwoven two narratives into a single exploration of fraternal love and loss,” says juror Jamie Dunsdon, Co-Artistic Director of Calgary’s Verb Theatre on behalf of fellow jury members Grant Linneberg, a Calgary based actor, and Dr. Kiki Benzon, U of L English professor.

Lost Dog by Brayden Haidenger, a dramatic arts major, took second place.

“Lost Dog is an avalanche of suburban family drama neatly framed within the search for a lost pet,” says Benzon. “It probes the limits of love in a family struggling to reconcile shared values with individual desires. We were impressed by the juxtaposition of the sitcom comedy setting with the dark subject matter.”

Third place in the Play Right Prize went to Co-Workers by AJ Baragar, also a dramatic arts major. The jury was thrilled to see a comedy in this year's mix of plays. They congratulated the playwright for creating a zany comedy with a surprise ending that was worth the wait. This play has already made it to the stage. In March 2014 it took three awards at the Chinook Regional One Act Festival in Lethbridge (Best Play, Best Original Script, and Best Male Actor) and at the Alberta Provincial One Act Festival last May it won Best Original Script. Co-Workers appears at Club Didi (Lethbridge) March 18-21 and Birds and Stone (Calgary) May 27-30.

Striking Prose Winners

Striking Prose, the short story writing competition, was adjudicated by three faculty members from the U of L Department of English, Dr. Kiki Benzon, Dr. Jay Gamble, and Dr. Wendy Faith.

Fourth-year English major, Emma Dering took first place with An Amiable Correspondence, which the jurors called a ‘Single White Female,’ epistolary for a late-Victorian age.

“This story sets the spine a tingle with one lonely student’s brewing obsession with her governess,” says Gamble. "It ultimately reveals the psychological instability of the young protagonist.”

Second place went to Blair Yoxall, also an English major, for Raymond’s Comet, which offers a witty and funny merging of the superhero and the literary in a hyper-real local setting.

“Mayor Nenshi even makes a cameo appearance,” says Gamble.

Third prize for the Striking Prose competition was won by Topnew media major Rodrigo Henriquez for Icarus, a story of the earth’s impending destruction told from multiple perspectives in a sinister science fiction mode.

Creative writers crowned as competition winners

trevor.kenney — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 21:43:58 +0000

Thanks to a generous alumnus, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students have the opportunity to flex their creative-writing muscles and possibly win fame and fortune. The annual Striking Prose short story competition and Play Right Prize playwriting competition, sponsored by alum Terry Whitehead (BA '94), are proud to announce the 2014 award winners.

Contest winners, from left, include Czarina Zoleta, Liam Monaghan, Travis Robinson and Chelsea Woolley.

Taking the first place prize in the Striking Prose category is Travis Robinson for his short story, The Contest, in which a radio contest captures the attention and imagination of a small town. This was the only award presented this year for Striking Prose.

A three member jury consisting of Dr. Jay Gamble, Dr. Kiki Benzon and Dr. Heather Ladd critiqued the story by saying that through carefully building suspense, the author shifts perspectives between a number of average men and women, finally showing his audience that the extraordinary is never far from the ordinary. The strength of this story was its shifting focalization and whirling perspectival shifts. They also indicated that a contest where something is won and something is lost is the uneasy irony of this finely observed short story.

First place for the Play Right Prize went to Czarina Zoleta for her play, In Another Life, which the jurors unanimously agreed on because the script moved them so strongly.

“There are beautiful relationships between characters in this script and the structure creates strong dramatic tension,” says Zaborsky on behalf of fellow jurors Jacqueline Russell and Meg Braem. “We thought it was subtle in its poignancy. All three of us were moved by the story. It also managed to successfully create believable alternative worlds.”

Because the quality was so high, this year’s Play Right Prize jurors found it too hard to decide on second and third place winners, so two second prize awards were presented to Liam Monaghan for Mad Little Gods and Chelsea Woolley for Goose, respectively. This was not Woolley’s first award for the Play Right Prize competition. In 2012, her play 1000 Names won second place and was produced in the 2012/2013 TheatreXtra season.

Monaghan and Woolley split the second and third prize awards, receiving $500 each. The jurors said that both plays captured great character voices and showed a wonderful use of conflict. Of Mad Little Gods, they said that the juxtaposition of Christmas hymns with the darkness of the tragic subject matter was a strong choice that creates a discomforting tension for the audience. The character voices in Goose were strong and clear, and Goose is a very likable character that has the audience immediately on her side.

Both winning entries receive a $1,500 prize, one of the most lucrative awards in the country for a student competition. The $5,000 in prize money is generously donated each year by alumnus Terry Whitehead, the competition aiming to encourage excellence and development in student playwriting.

The winning play and short story each receive a public reading on Thursday, Mar. 27at 7 p.m. in the David Spinks Theatre. Admission is free and everyone is welcome to attend.

Whitehead gift gets creative juices flowing

trevor.kenney — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:09:32 +0000

Thanks to generous ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge alumnus, Terry Whitehead (BA '94), students have the opportunity to flex their creative writing muscles and possibly win fame and fortune.

Whitehead provides $5,000 in prize money to support the annual Play Right Prize and Striking Prose competition to encourage excellence and development in student playwriting and short story writing.

When the 2012 winners were asked why they participated in this competition they all answered the same way – because they love to write.

Pictured here are the winners from the Play Right Prize and Striking Prose competition. Back row from left are Cole Olson and Christopher Wallace. Front from left are Lori-Ann Steward, Kristine Saretsky, Makambe Simamba and Chelsea Woolley.

The first place prize in the Striking Prose category went to English major Kristine Saretsky for her short story The Persephone Games. The three member jury, made up of Department of English faculty, Dr. Kiki Benzon, Dr. Maureen Hawkins and Dr. Jay Gamble, conclude Saretsky's story is a moving read that is part mystery, part dream and entirely entrancing. What is left unsaid defines the story and is most terrifying.

First place for the Play Right Prize went to Makambe Simamba, a BFA Drama major, for her play MUD, which speaks to contemporary Canadian issues in a powerful and poetic way. The jury included Meg Braem, an award-winning playwright and drama faculty member; alumni Andy Jenkins (BFA '07), Empress Theatre's summer program director; and Estelle Shook, the former artistic director of British Columbia's nationally acclaimed Caravan Farm Theatre. With a record number of submissions, the jurors were impressed with the high degree of imagination demonstrated by the student playwrights.

Both first prize winners receive $1,500 and the opportunity to share their winning entries at a public reading on Thursday, Mar. 15 at 7 p.m. in the David Spinks Theatre. Admission is free and everyone is welcome to attend. The evening includes a reception and cash bar.

Second place in the Play Right competition went to Chelsea Woolley for her script 1000 Names, which had rich, vivid characters and timeless potent themes. Third place went to Cole Olson for his play Patriarch, a work that takes a personal and intimate approach to the classic family drama. They receive awards of $750 and $250 respectively.

Because the quality was so high, this year's Striking Prose jurors found it too hard to decide on a second and third place story, so two second prize awards were presented to Christopher Wallace for his story Alex and to Lori-Ann Steward for her submission Marionette.

Wallace and Steward split the second and third prize awards and each receive $500.

This story first appeared in the March 2012 issue of the Legend. For a look at the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

UNews - Kiki Benzon

Writers rewarded with 2015 Plays and Prose prizes

Related Topics

Creative writers crowned as competition winners

Related Topics

Whitehead gift gets creative juices flowing

Related Topics