2022 Place and Home Contest Results
Congratulations to the winners of the Dreamers 2022 Stories of Migration, Sense of Place and Home Contest!
Once again, we were impressed by the quality of the entries we received. Making our final choice was difficult, but this year we have awarded 1 first place prize and 3 honourable mentions.
Thank you to our judge, Phil McNichol, long-time newspaper reporter, award winning columnist, and author of the popular blog, Finding Hope Ness. Here’s what Phil had to say about our winning story by Teo Chesney:
“This author makes music with beautiful prose. It’s not a narrative: it’s an impressionist painting in words, and a journey to Brazil through the evocative feelings and observations of the author’s soul. This author is on a path toward greatness.”
And now, without further ado, here are the winning entries!
First Place:
Letter to My Ghost Kingdom
Nonfiction by Teo Chesney
“No one will listen while the passion and the talent still beat within. People are so lazy. All the while small, brilliant works, forged in the masses slip like grains of sand through our fingers. Do you ever think about that? I mourn for the words of nobodies who had vital lessons or exceptional stories to tell, but they died, and their words were never found.”
Honorable Mentions:
YYZ
Fiction by Omar Ramirez
“As the video conference ended, quiet tears poured down her cheeks. She felt very small as if someone had taken her voice away. The short time she had to sort everything out before leaving Canada was a whirlwind of emotions, full of sleepless nights and tearful goodbyes.”
Good Fences
Fiction by Meghan Rose Allen
“Marja would write the curse, seal it in a film canister, and then, in the guise of being a welcoming neighbour, bury it in the roots of whatever Marja planted in the garden as a gift. She always used sturdy, propagating plants, hostas or mint or raspberries, that, once, dug in, weren’t going anywhere.”
Thank You for Calling
Nonfiction by Alida Thacher
“These days in every direction I look, the world is falling apart. Fires and floods and extreme temperatures. A global pandemic. Almost 100 million refugees in the world seeking safe haven, fleeing climate, wars, poverty, and persecution … Donating miles that I can’t use feels so paltry and passive. It’s certainly something I can give, but it’s not enough. It’s never enough. But here I am, working with Peter, to solve one big obstacle for two of those millions of migrants.”
Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to everyone who entered the contest!
Our 2023 Sense of Place and Home Contest is now open for submissions! Submit your stories of migration and/or your sense of place, of home or lack of, for your chance to win! Submissions are due by January 31.
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