Eileen Hopkins (left) and Maxine Boxall were chosen by judges as the winners of the short story writing contest sponsored by O’s Own Writers. Boxall placed first and Hopkins was second among 15 entries. Each won a prize of $100. (Richard McGuire photo)
Two Osoyoos writers were picked from 15 entries as winners of a short story writing contest sponsored by O’s Own Writers.
Maxine Boxall took first place for her story “Craving,” while Eileen Hopkins took second for “Last Christmas.”
The two received prizes of $100 each.
The winners were announced last Wednesday at the Osoyoos Art Gallery, where many of the writers read their stories.
The entries were judged by Mayor Sue McKortoff, avid reader Lynnda Millward and Osoyoos Times Reporter/Photographer Richard McGuire.
When points awarded by the judges were tallied, there was a five-way tie for first place because the judges liked different stories.
The tie was only broken when McKortoff and McGuire discussed their runner-up favourites. Millward wasn’t present during the final judging.
Others finishing first in the initial round were Jody Chadderton with “Fifteen going on Twenty-five,” and Joyce Villiers with “Why Christmas is My Thing.”
Another entry, “Errands,” was also a winner in the first round. The writer did not leave a name and wasn’t present to take credit.
“We were sorry not to be able to identify the person who wrote that,” said organizer Sue Whittaker. “Maybe that person will make themselves known to us.”
Nonetheless, “Errands” was read aloud at the gallery event.
Whittaker said the goal of the contest was to reach out to other writers in the community who may not yet be active with the O’s Own Writers group.
“People are glad that we’ve done this because obviously they are writing at home and don’t have a writing group,” said Whittaker, adding that the contest was a success and she’s happy with the number of entries. “We had very good feedback. We feel like we’re going to be able to revamp the organization.”
Both Boxall and Hopkins are already active with the group. Their entries and many of the others had no names on them so the judges wouldn’t know the identity of the writer.
Stories were under 1,200 words and were on suggested themes of “winter,” “the holiday season” or “it happened in …”
The O’s Own Writers group is a member of the Osoyoos and District Arts Council. More details about the group can be found on the Arts Council’s website at: http://www.osoyoosarts.com/osown.html.
The group has published two anthologies of members’ work.
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