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You are here: Home / Archives for Chet Skibinski

2014 Writing Contest Winners Announced

November 3, 2014 By Jan

C. Lill Ahrens, contest coordinator for the 2014 Oregon Writers Colony writing contests, has announced contest winners.

Nonfiction

1st place

Ryan Chin, Portland, Oregon, “The Hope He Had”

Nonfiction final judge Jen Weaver-Neist says about the story:

“From the very first page, “The Hope He Had” offers an inviting cargo of goods: mystery, rich rivers of description, and the author’s natural curiosity that eventually journeys into the American experience. The first-person observations are welcome threads from the fabric of the author’s everyday life, with his two young sons and Big Head the family dog playing complementary roles in his discoveries. Readers share in his reflections too, sifting through perspective and detail to arrive comfortably at the same conclusion: that this is a story about the genealogy of hope, our common ancestry — the tree that never dies.

2nd place

Rachael Pruitt, Eugene, Oregon, “Being Seen – 1972”

3rd place

Michael Coolen, Corvallis, Oregon, “What Is That Thing”

First Honorable Mention

Karen Keitz, Tillamook, Oregon, “Yellow”

Other Honorable Mentions (alphabetical by author)

Stacy Carleton, Portland, Oregon, “Making Room in an Occupied Heart”

Valerie Lake, Corvallis, Oregon, “Night of Lions”

Gail McNally, Beaverton, Oregon, “Fred’s Fall”

“Entries of Note” (alphabetical by author)

Art Edwards, Portland, Oregon, “The Bastard Who Cut My Hair”

Robert Freedman, Portland, Oregon, “Busted”

Donelle Knudsen, Richland, Washington, “Desert Rose or a Blooming Miracle”

Fiction

1st place

Ann Littlewood, Portland, Oregon, “The Owl on the Road to Medford” (Read an excerpt)

Fiction final judge Stevan Allred says about the story:

The winning story gives us a young couple with two problems to solve. One is immediate—what to do about a live bird they’ve come across on the road–and one is existential—will their luck change if they move to Medford? It gives us a sardonic narrator who runs a wildlife rehab center, someone who’s seen it all, and doesn’t think much of the human race. It gives us the sophisticated structure of a peripheral narrator—the story is told by the sardonic narrator, but it’s about the couple. The author’s prose is crisp and confident. The characters are well-drawn and convincing, the setting a little exotic, and the story itself has something to say about the power of a little routine kindness to change the course of events. There’s no real miracle at its core, only the daily miracle of rising above our own cynicism to find a moment of redemption in our daily lives. But that is the human condition, and this story, “The Owl on the Road to Medford,” evokes this truth without any undue sentimentality, and for all of these qualities, I say ‘Huzzah’ to this author. Well done!

2nd place

Donna Farley, Surrey, British Columbia, “The Witnesses”

3rd place

Harry Demarest, Corvallis, Oregon, “One Big Coffin”

First Honorable Mention

Lois Rosen, Salem, Oregon, “The Jewish Colleen”

Other Honorable Mentions (alphabetical by author)

Patricia Barnhart, Lakeview, Oregon, “Spin Cycle”

Patsy Lally, Lake Oswego, Oregon, “The Day I Met My Mother”

Chet Skibinski, Lake Oswego, Oregon, “An Old Man With a Beard”

“Entries of Note” (alphabetical by author)

Gail Bartley, Bend, Oregon, “Mourning Becomes Her”

Harry Demarest, Corvallis, Oregon, “House in the Woods”

Jean Peterson, Nehalem, Oregon, “Dousing Dolly”

Beth Navarro, Corvallis, Oregon, “Road Trip”

Norma Seely, Manzanita, Oregon, “The Appraiser”

Filed Under: OWC News Tagged With: Ann Littlewood, Beth Navarro, C. Lill Ahrens, Chet Skibinski, Contests, Donelle Knudsen, Donna Farley, Gail Bartley, Gail McNally, Harry Demarest, Jean Peterson, Jen Weaver-Neist, Karen Keitz, Lois Rosen, Michael Coolen, Norma Seely, Patricia Barnhart, Patsy Lally, Rachael Pruitt, Robert Freedman, Ryan Chin, Stacy Carleton, Stevan Allred, Valerie Lake

2012 Short Story and Poetry Contest Winners

November 14, 2012 By Becky Kjelstrom

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.”

Filed Under: Member News, OWC News Tagged With: Barb McMakin, Cheryl Sears, Chet Skibinski, Contests, Darlene Buechel, Diane Manley, Diane Miller, Donelle Knudsen, Eileen Malone, Ellanaine Lockie, Genny Lynch, Gina Ochsner, Harry Demarest, Jean Peterson, John J. White, Judith B. Allen, Karen Keltz, Laura Loomis, Leland Spencer, Morgan Azinger, Morgan Songi, Patricia A. Smith, Patricia Barnhart, Patricia MacAodha, Rick Lamplugh, Sue Parman

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