2005 Award Winner
Postcard story writing – a unique blend of prose and verse – is an emerging genre that reflects our culture’s move to dramatic images and sharp ideas in economical form. The Writers' Union of Canada initiated its inaugural Postcard Story Competition in 1999 to discover, encourage, and promote writers of fiction and nonfiction in this form. The winning entry will be printed in postcard format and will be distributed with the Union's Newsletter.
This year, thirty Union members donated their time and expertise to read over 550 submissions and distill them into a shortlist of twelve. These were passed on to the 2005 jury (Michael Redhill and Adam Lewis Schroeder) who selected the following winner and runners-up from the contenders.
Winner
“Home Sweet Home” by Mary J. Breen (Peterborough, ON)
"The jury chose "Home Sweet Home," by Mary J. Breen as its winner because it so successfully distilled a complex story into a very small space. This narrative, so deceptively simple, manages to encompass an entire relationship (as well as its personal histories) in a surprising and well-told story. Breen's facility with the voice of the story is a matter not easily handled in less than 250 words, and "Home Sweet Home," in its economy, its attention to detail, and its facility with story-structure, is an exemplar of the short-short form." (jury)
Mary J. Breen has written two books about women's health, and has published several essays and articles, as well as short stories in Canadian Woman Studies and The Spillway Review. Her current interest is teaching memoir writing to seniors. Mary lives in Peterborough, Ontario.
Runners-up
“Snowmen” by Gareth J. Palmer (Vancouver, BC)
“Creamed Peas with Mother” by Lenora Steele (Truro, NS)
Finalists
“Loon Song” by Tracey Ann Coveart (Port Perry, ON)
“Bird” by Andrea Fikkert (Edmonton, AB)
“A Magical Place” by Sherman R. Fisher (Dundas, NB)
“Postcards” by Tallen Hacikyan (Montreal, PQ)
“Hope Oh Hope” by Soula Marangos (Toronto, ON)
“One of Life's Embarrassing Moments” by Patricia Sibbald (Brampton, ON)
“The Life and Death of James Polk” by Bettina Teodoro (New York, NY)
“Little Bird" by Irene N. Watts (Vancouver, BC)
“What Are Friends For?” by Linda A. White (Wainright, AB)
READERS FOR THE COMPETITION
Kelley Armstrong, Trysh Ashby-Rolls, Carolyn Beck, Ann Birch, Mary Frances Coady, Ann Decter, Olga M. Dey-Bergmoser, Betty Dyck, Donald R. Gordon, Phil Hall, Margaret Hollingsworth, George K. Ilsley, John F. Jansen in de Wal, Loris Lesynski, Kathy-Diane Leveille, Dona Paul Massel, Antonino Mazza, Robert McGill, Allen Morgan, Michael Mortensen, Julia Moulden, Faruk Myrtaj, Iris Nowell, Carolyn Pogue, Al Pope, Stuart Ross, Bill Schermbrucker, Carolyn Smart
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