Judges Gina Ochsner and Sue Parman have announced the winners of the 2012 Oregon Writers Colony annual writing contests. First-place winners through honorable mentions are invited to read an excerpt at the awards program.
Short Story Fiction
1st place
Patricia Barnhart, Lakeview, Oregon, Ellen Gregory
Gina Oschner’s note: “When I read ‘Ellen Gregory’ I knew I was in the confidant hands of a talented storyteller. The writing is clean, precise, imaginative, and it leaps off the page.”
2nd place
Shirley Dixon, Portland, Oregon, A Different Calling
Gina Oschner’s note: “Voice thrums behind A Different Calling, pulling the reader forward into a world we could not inhabit if not for the care and attention to description and detail afforded in the story”
3rd place
Diane Manley, Eugene, Oregon, The Favorite
First Honorable Mention
Harry Demarest, Corvallis, Oregon, Johnny Angel
Other Honorable Mentions (alphabetical by author)
Darlene Buechel, Chilton, Wisconsin, Six Rules for Surviving a Stepdad
Patricia MacAodha, Portland, Oregon, The Witch with the Backpack
John J. White, Merritt Island, Florida, Beneath the Wintry Sky
Judges Panel “Entries of Note” (alphabetical by author)
(These made it into the top ten lists of at least three judges, or high on the list of at least one judge.)
Patricia Barnhart, Lakeview, Oregon, Piece by Piece
Valerie Lake, Corvallis, Oregon, Jose’s Boots
Diane Miller, Sweethome, Oregon, The Struggle to Lose It
Chet Skibinski, Lake Oswego, Oregon, The Prince and his Tunnels
Patricia A. Smith, Corvallis, Oregon, Birthday Surprise
Short Story Nonfiction
1st place
Morgan Songi, Eugene, Oregon, Spirit Nights
Gina Oschner’s note: “In Spirit Nights the writer thoughtfully weaves an examination of past and present, memory and absence. The author skillfully architects exposition, summary, and scene to create a blended narration that reads in some places like poetry.”
2nd place
Donelle Knudsen, Richland, Washington, Ashes to Ashes and the Spirit of Forgiveness
3rd place
Cheryl Sears, Portland, Oregon, Prejudice Revisited
Gina Oschner’s note: “Both Ashes to Ashes and Prejudice Revisited struck me as being authentic and candid journeys through painful territory. Both authors explore through well-crafted scene and thoughtful narration their struggles in accepting some form of loss as well as the recognition that to be human is to be flawed in some manner”
First Honorable Mention
Leland Spencer, Monument, Oregon, Junkpile Go-Cart
Honorable Mentions (alphabetical by author)
Valerie Lake, Corvallis, Oregon, Invasive Species
Genny Lynch, Lebanon, Oregon, Kissing Lessons
Jean Peterson, Nehalem, Oregon, Border Banditos
Judges Panel “Entries of Note” (alphabetical by author)
(These made it into the top ten lists of at least three judges, or high on the list of at least one judge.)
Judith B. Allen, Manzanita, Oregon, Twenty Questions
Donelle Knudsen, Richland, Washington, Desert Rose or a Blooming Miracle
Rick Lamplugh, Corvallis, Oregon, Mystery at Trout Lake
Laura Loomis, Pittsburg, California, Ghost House
Elizabeth Bolton Poetry Contest
1st place
Barb McMakin, Crestwood, Kentucky, Familiar Skeletons
2nd place
Morgan Azinger, Portland, Oregon, Indescribable Things
3rd place
Karen Keltz, Tillamook, Oregon, Miasma
First Honorable Mention
Eileen Malone, Broadmoor Village, California, Whale Watching Guy
Other Honorable Mentions (alphabetical by author)
Morgan Azinger, Portland, Oregon, American Apocalypse
Ellanaine Lockie, California, Just Desserts
Morgan Songi, Eugene, Oregon, Weeds
Poetry judge Parman commented, “I’ve just finished my fifth perusal of these wonderful poems, long enough for some to drift to the top and others to the bottom. Many of the poems entered in the contest were full of pain and sharp experience; many were good stories (I’m a sucker for a good story), but when I had to choose between an explicit story told with only the barest gesture toward the poetic medium versus a tightly knit poem containing the hinted ghost of a story, I went for the ghost versus the explicitly told tale. Also, all things being roughly equal, a good title can make a difference.”
