Writers from Vancouver Island and Saltspring Island are well represented amongst 11 midlife emerging B.C. writers who have had their unpublished manuscripts recognized for the 2016 Cedric Literary Awards.
More than 120 manuscripts, including two written in French, were received from writers aged 50 or better from across British Columbia in this year’s writing competition, in the categories of fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and First Nations writing.
“The Cedric Literary Awards are changing the landscape of writing competitions in Canada by providing a unique platform to recognize and reward unpublished mature and emerging writers of prose and poetry,” said awards executive director Veronica Osborn. “As I was with last year’s competition, I am greatly impressed by the depth of writing talent that exists among B.C.’s seniors.”
Each of this year’s category winners will be presented with a $3,000 prize at an afternoon reception to be held at The Union Club of British Columbia in Victoria on Saturday, Oct. 15. In addition, two poets will receive a special commendation for their work.
Among those on the short list for the awards are Joel Scott of Chemainus, whose manuscript Jack is up for the fiction award.
From Saltspring Island, Andrew Gardner is also up for the fiction prize for his work The Captain’s Road, and Beth Hawkes is in the running for the creative non-fiction prize for her work Seasons.
The Cedric Literary Awards exclusively support writers in the 50-plus demographic.
Since its inception, the writing competition has attracted more than 300 participants from every region of British Columbia.