by Edith Cody-Rice
The Lanark Lit competition held its gala for winners of the first annual Lanark Literary competition on Sunday December 8. On this sunny day, the Almonte branch of the Mississippi Mills Library was the venue for a pleasant afternoon of food, good conversation and readings.
Co- directors Jenn Snider Cruise and Jessie Carson reviewed the successes of the first year of Almonte Readers and Writers. It has presented thirty-seven (37) events – seven (7) Art of Writing workshops, three (3) 4-week creative writing courses, five (5) author/writer presentations, three (3) Open Mic events, five (5) book swap events, twelve (12) community ‘write-ins’, two (2) book club events. Over 500 people attended the first year events and ARW paid $5100 to writers during the year. It has ambitious plans for the future and one of its major goals is to pay writers at the CARFAC (Canadian Artists Representation) level.
This inaugural Lanark Literrary Writing Competition received forty-one (41) submissions from writers across Lanark County. The competition attracted excellent entries. The jurors were impressed with the quality of the work and found the stories a delight to read.
The winners were announced, congratulated and invited to read excerpts of their stories. Winners in each category were presented with a $200 cash award and runners up and the honourable mention were given gift cards.
It was a well attended, comfortable and joyous afternoon, full of congratulations and good will.
The winners of this year’s competition are:
Age 17 and Under
WINNER — The Apartment, by Mattea Crabtree (Perth)
HONOURABLE MENTION – Run, by Lola Lang (Carleton Place)
Young adults 18 – 29 category
WINNER — The Story of Gilbert’s Hill, by Georgia Walker (Almonte)
Adults 30+ category
WINNER — Funeral Arrangements, by Carolee Mason (McDonalds Corners)
FIRST RUNNER-UP (2nd place) — Team Bob, by Sara Jane O’Neill (Almonte)
SECOND RUNNER-UP (3rd place) — The Book Reader, by Michael Sobol (Lanark)
You may read the full bios here:
https://www.almontereadersandwriters.org/lanark-lit-contest-results-2024
With the permission of the authors, The Millstone will be publishing some of these stories in the coming weeks. As a publication in the Millstone may prevent authors from entering other competitions in which entries that have been previously published are excluded, some of the authors may wish reserve their options and request that we not publish their stories. That is why not all stories may appear on this site
