Announcing the Winners of the 2023 NB Writing CompetitionFor Immediate Release Winners Announced for the 2023 NB Writing Competition – record number of submissions April 28, 2023 – The Writers' Federation of New Brunswick (WFNB) has announced the winners of its annual New Brunswick Writing Competition. The winners will be celebrated at a literary soiree on Friday evening, June 2, at the Saint John Central Library, as part of WFNB’s annual WordSpring writing festival, this year to be held in Saint John. The program celebrates eight categories of unpublished writing in the genre of novel, short story, single poem, poetry manuscript, books for young people, and stories by young people, as well as unpublished short film script, and narrative non-fiction. There were a record number of submissions this year in almost every category, creating more difficult choices for the peer judges-who are chosen from outside of the province. They consistently reported that the submissions displayed a diverse spectrum of high-quality writing talent in the province. This also reflects the higher number of Honourable Mentions this year. The finalists are as follows: The David Adams Richards Prize for fiction First Place – Zev Bagel (Shediac, NB) for Seeking Isak Lowenstein Second Place – Ed Lemond (New Richmond, QC) for The Last Thing She Said Third Place – Kelly Alcorn (Rollingdam, NB), Grand Manan Honourable Mention – Danny Jacobs (Riverview, NB), The Conic Section Honourable Mention – Thomas Chamberlain (Rothesay, NB) Happenstance Honourable Mention – Jenna Morton (Boundary Creek, NB) Enticed From Home Douglas Kyle Memorial Prize Judge: Marianne Ward First Place -- Cheyenne Kean-Lemery (Sackville, NB), The Yellow Door Tied for Second Place — Trent Pomeroy (Rothesay, NB), Now That We Can Choose Brent Mazerolle (Moncton, NB) Setting the Hook Third Place—Trent Pomeroy (Rothesay, NB), Holes Honourable Mention: Ruth McLean (Riverview, NB), Monday Morning, Rain or Shine The Alfred G. Bailey Prize for Poetry Manuscript Judge: Alice Burdick First Prize: Agata Antonow (Florenceville-Bristol, NB ) Her Strange Position Second Prize: John McNeil (, NB), Bigfoot at the Lord Nelson Third Prize: Ian LeTourneau (Fredericton, NB), Metadata from a Changing Climate The Dawn Watson Memorial Prize for Single Poem Judge: Dr. Sean Wiebe First Place: Melanie Craig-Hansford (Hampton, NB), My other ride is your Mother Second Place: Heather Gunn (Shediac, NB) Cosmopolitan Magazine says I should be Tangled in the Sheets Third Place: Melanie Craig-Hansford (Hampton, NB), The Night I Lost Her Honourable Mention: Kathleen MacDonald (Saint Andrews, NB) Flakes of Winter The Quantiphi Books for Young People Prize Judge: Kristen Butcher First place, Kelly Alcorn (Rollingdam, NB), Randy the Race Coon Second place, Leo LaFleur (Saint John, NB), The Black Branch Third place, Gail Collette (Miramichi, NB), The Climate Changes Terr Honourable Mention, Odette Barr (Petit Cap, NB), Arrivals and Departures The Sheree Fitch Prize for Teen Writers Judge: Hope Dalvay First Place—Charlotte Upright (Moncton, NB), A Valley of Burnt Skies Second Place—Grace Pusey (Grand Bay-Westfield, NB), Floopinsbag, Duffelnoth, and Sir George the Scared Third Place—Liam Johnson (Saint John, NB),Winter’s Claws Honourable Mention—Sarah Hackett (Moncton, NB), Eyes of the Elephant Honourable Mention – Emily Keats (Fredericton, NB) Not So Ugly Duckling Honourable Mention (Poetry) – Tori Garnett (Saint John, NB) The Blooming Sunflower Honourable Mention (Poetry) – Awatif Osman (Shediac, NB) Obituary The Narrative Non-Fiction Prize Judge: Chris Benjamin First place: Shaun Cunningham (Sackville, NB), The Werewolf Second place: Brent Mazerolle (Moncton, NB), My Brothers Dying Young and Other Things that Have Made Me Happy Third place: Pat Stafford (Saint Andrews, NB), La Riunione (The Reunion) Honourable Mention: Allison Calvern (Ottawa, ON), A Brother, Two Weddings, and a Funeral The Jane LeBlanc Screenwriting Award Judge: Kaitlyn Adair First Place: MacKenzie Power (Fredericton, NB), Gin Soaked Bride Second Place—Todd Fraser (Fredericton, NB) One Hundred Thousand Welcomes Third Place—Jacquelyn Clydesdale (Saint John, NB), The Wonder of it All The WFNB congratulates all the winners, and all who submitted to the competition. The New Brunswick Writing Competition began in 1985, the same year as the WFNB's date of incorporation. We’ve held it annually ever since, awarding hundreds of prizes over the decades. Many past winners have since achieved national and international publishing fame. It opens every year on December 1. Special thanks to our sponsors: | Submission Categories
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The Kyle Family, in honour of the late Viola and Douglas Kyle of Bathurst, NB |
GuidelinesEntries will not be considered until both the manuscript and payment have been received.
WHEN: The 2023-24 season will run from December 1, 2023 to February 28, 2024. WHO:
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