2021 Winners
The Rotary Club of Stratford is pleased to announce the winners of our 2021 Short Story Contest.
This was a particularly challenging year for our judges and especially our readers who are tasked, annually, with reading and scoring every one of the submissions to the contest; and this year there were well over 700 of them, so a special thanks goes to our hard working team.
Obviously, when there are so many submissions to a contest which is not delineated by genre, nor even split into age groups, as it has been in the past, there is bound to be much comparing of apples to pomegranates. We apologize for this, and hope to address it as best we can in time for next year’s contest.
But really…this contest was never intended to be an acknowledgement of individual excellence in writing as much as it was to be a collective celebration of the passion we share for the simple act of story-telling, genre and age notwithstanding. And to that extent, I think we have succeeded, if the participation rate is anything to go by.
So…the winning submissions for the Rotary Club of Stratford’s SHORT STORY CONTEST 2021 are…
1st place with a prize of $500
THE PLAY’S THE THING by Deidra Lovegren
2nd place with a prize of $250
NIGHTFALL IN CELL BLOCK C by Renee Lehnen
3rd place with a prize of $100
THE CANDLE IN THE WINDOW by Grace Handzlik
1st Honourable Mention
THE MANY BENEFITS OF MASKS by Lydia C. Lee
2nd Honourable Mention
A TERRIBLE THING HAS HAPPENED by Natascha Graham
We could easily have had a list of dozens of honourable mentions, but we have to draw a line somewhere, and this is it.
Huge congratulations to our winners, and equally huge thanks to all who participated.
To wrap up this year’s contest befittingly, we’re created a video with recordings of readings by professional actors of the 1st 2nd and 3rd prize winning stories.
2021 wrap up video - click here
Until then, The Rotary Club of Stratford would like to wish the Happiest and Healthiest Holiday Season to all our friends around the world.
Sincerely,
Michael Fox
Literacy Committee
The Rotary Club of Stratford
Ontario Canada