I’ll never know how to properly talk about myself, but here goes.

Great thanks to Freefall Magazine, subtitled ‘Canada’s Magazine of Exquisite Writing’ (love that!) for awarding me both second and third place in their prose contest.

Second place winner was ‘The Arms of Village’, a very tough story to write, and a hard one to reread. I’ve often said this piece of work was unpublishable, but I’m so happy it’s going to see the light of day. This story crushed my soul in writing it. I read this to someone once, and they assumed that it was based on a true story, but it’s not.

Third place winner was ‘Vestigial’, a completely different type of story about a relationship where one person is going through some unique struggles. This story elevated me in writing it, and while there’s a sadness to the thing, I go back to this story when I need a lift. When I need to remember how things can be, and how fine they can be, no matter how much we struggle.

They are so different, these stories. Themes, styles, settings. They’re intensely personal but have nothing to do with my life, so not sure how personal they really could be… I haven’t the foggiest how both came out of me. I never really do. I hope you read them when they’re published.

Great thanks to the prose judge, Lauren Carter! And a hearty congratulations to first-place prose winner Blaine Newton, and to the poetry winners!