January 15, 2009

2008 VIWF Writing Contest Winners Announced

(January 15, 2009, Vancouver, BC)— The winners of the 10th Annual Vancouver International Writers Festival Poetry and Short Story Contest have been announced. In the short fiction category two Vancouverites received top honours. The first prize winner in the short story category goes to Clarissa Green for “The Coin.” The second prize winner is Rob Peters for “Unrivaled Fortitude.”

First place winner in the poetry category goes to Surrey resident Jessica Hiemstra-van der Horst for her poem “The most beautiful things I've seen in October.” Second place goes to Elizabeth Ross of Vancouver for “Subdivision.”

Bios:

Clarissa P. Green's writing is fueled by thirty-five years as a university teacher and her clinical practice as a family therapist. It reflects her fascination with how time and memory affect family connections. She is the mother of two grown sons, a grandmother, a letter writer who uses a pen and a kayaker. 

Rob Peters worked in journalism before deciding to concentrate on fiction. He lives in the West End with his girlfriend and, often, a seagull named Tim.

Jessica Hiemstra-van der Horst's first collection of poems, Excerpts from Gerald, God and the Chickens (Frog Hollow Press) was published in 2008, and her second collection, Anatomy for the Artist, is forthcoming with Greenboathouse Press, fall 2009. Her poems have appeared in several Canadian journals including The Antigonish Review, The Malahat Review and Carousel. 

Elizabeth Ross is working on a poetry thesis for her MFA in creative writing at UBC. She is the incoming poetry editor of PRISM international.

Winners receive a cash prize ($350 for first prize in each category, $250 for second prize) and first place winning pieces will be published in sub-Terrain magazine. All winners will be published on the Writers Festival website (www.writersfest.bc.ca). Contest judges were Elizabeth Bachinsky, Brian Kaufman, Evelyn Lau and Billeh Nickerson. The contest was sponsored by Book Warehouse.

For more information on the Vancouver International Writers Festival visit the Festival website: www.writersfest.bc.ca.

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For more information, contact:
Ann McDonell, Development & Marketing Manager
604 681 6330 ext. 104 dmm@writersfest.bc.ca
www.writersfest.bc.ca