Campbell River’s D. Ross Fisher, 59, has received an honourable mention in the fiction category of the inaugural Cedric Literary Awards for unpublished BC writers aged 50 or better.
His entry, “Raincoast Sketches (Of a Small Town)” was described by the judges as “a well-written series of vignettes about characters all living in the same small coastal town – all unique and living believable lives. The book builds a convincing world and it was enjoyable to get a glimpse into each life.”
Three other Vancouver Island writers were each presented with $3,000 awards in front of a packed audience at a special reception held in Victoria this past Saturday. They are: Margitta Maud, 76, of Duncan for her creative non-fiction work “Out of Darkness;” Joel Scott, 75, of Chemainus for his work of fiction “Arrows Flight;” and Susan Braley, 59, of Victoria for her poetry collection “The Imminence of Fracture.”
The fourth winner was: Irene Lynxleg, 75, a First Nations writer from Vancouver for her short story “Keesis’s Trimble Park Diary.”
Fisher, three other honourable mentions, and the four winners were chosen by a panel of judges from writers of 168 manuscripts submitted in the 2015 writing competition.
“With no history to draw upon, we’ve created a spectacular beginning to The Cedric Literary Awards,” said Peter Dale, Chairman of Betterthan50 and founder of the writing competition. “We have demonstrated what inclusiveness really means by embracing writers from every region of BC, including First Nations writers.”
Submissions to the 2015 Cedric Literary Awards competition were received from writers from Pink Mountain to Langley, and from Fort St. James to Victoria. Plans for the 2016 competition are already underway, and it is hoped the competition will embrace French-speaking writers in coming years.
“This year’s competition has been inspirational for all of us, and I am extremely grateful to all of the participants for taking a leap of faith by sending us their work,” said Executive Director Veronica Osborn. “The next Call for Submissions will be February 1st, 2016, and I look forward to seeing even more entries next year.”
