Thanks to the Toronto Star’s 2010 Short Story Contest, anyone living in Ontario can test their literary chops: the annual contest, now in its 32nd year, is the most lucrative of its kind in Canada with a grand prize of $5,000, plus tuition for the creative writing correspondence program at Humber School for Writers. This year, for the first time, the Toronto Public Library has teamed with the Star to present this prestigious contest. City librarian, Jane Pyper, above left, joined fellow contest judges (from left) Richard Ouzounian, Elyse Friedman, Geoff Pevere and Matthew Church at a press conference Friday, announcing the contest details. Deadline for submissions is February 28 and winners will be announced in April during the TPL’s annual Keep Toronto Reading celebration.
Author Friedman says humans are “hard-wired” for short stories: “They stem from an ancient oral tradition and are probably one of the earliest kinds of entertainment — told around the fire in the cave, it’s a natural form”. That said, Friedman warns that the art form presents unique challenges; she noted that William Faulker, who wrote both novels and short stories, felt the latter was the higher art. “He said, ‘in the novel you can be careless but in the short story you can’t. Almost every word has got to be almost exactly right.’ ”
While few writers make their living exclusively from composing short stories, the strength of a single piece can launch a career — last year’s winner, Toronto’s Chris Allinotte, is currently working on his first full-length horror novel.
Lilie Zendel is a Senior Cultural Affairs Officer with City of Toronto Cultural Services
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Your link to The Star’s website for the short story contest isn’t working…seems to be linking to thestar.com/contests….instead of thesTar.com/contests…just though I would let u know!
Thanks Kiki, the link is fixed.