THUNDER BAY – The Northwestern Ontario Writers Workshop is pleased to announce the recipients of the Elizabeth Kouhi Award and the Sheila Burnford Builders Award for outstanding contributions to the literature of Northwestern Ontario.
The Elizabeth Kouhi Award, named in honour of Thunder Bay poet Elizabeth Kouhi, is awarded each year to a writer whose body of work has a significant history of contributing to the literature of Northwestern Ontario. The 2012 Elizabeth Kouhi Award was presented to Thunder Bay’s Sharon Irvine. Irvine is a writer, teacher and poet whose work has appeared in Core, 807, Squeeze, The Whiskey Jack, and Northern Nurses, as well as Core Samples and Watching the Parade, her first collection of poetry.
The Sheila Burnford Builders Award, named for writer Sheila Burnford, whose beloved story The Incredible Journey was set in Northwestern Ontario, recognizes a “builder”— someone who has made outstanding contributions to publishing, promoting, or supporting the literature of Northwestern Ontario. The recipients of the 2012 Burnford Award are J.F. (Jim) Foulds, Rosalind Maki, Deborah deBakker and Charles Wilkins, the founding members of the Northwestern Ontario Writers Workshop.
The awards were presented at NOWW’s annual Literary Awards Party, which took place Saturday, May 12 at the Current River Community Centre. Also announced were the winners of NOWW’s 14th Annual Writing Competition. The contest winners are:
Poetry (Judged by Dennis Cooley)
1st: Holly Haggarty, Thunder Bay, ON
2nd: Heather Mesich, Sioux Lookout, ON
3rd: Sue Blott, Thunder Bay, ON
Short Fiction (Judged by Matthew J. Trafford)
1st: Jane Crossman, Thunder Bay, ON
2nd: Vania Selvaggi, Toronto, ON
3rd: Jane Crossman, Thunder Bay, ON
Creative Non-Fiction (Judged by Leilah Nadir)
1st: Krista Montelpare, Halifax, NS
2nd: Vania Selvaggi, Toronto, ON
3rd: Sue Blott, Thunder Bay, ON
Children’s Story (Judged by Richard Scrimger)
1st: Heather Mesich, Sioux Lookout, ON
2nd: Bonnie Tittaferrante, Thunder Bay, ON
3rd: John Pringle, Atikokan, ON