St. John’s author wins writing award
Lawrence Jackson Writers’ Award aims to promote original, creative thought
St. John’s author Catherine Hogan Safer said it was quite an honour to be named the 2012 winner of the Lawrence Jackson Writers’ Award, especially so in light of the fact she knew the man the award was named after.
“I knew Larry Jackson years ago — well I know they call him Lawrence, but he was always Larry to me — and he was a wonderful person.”
The award, which is administered by the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council (NLAC), comes with a $500 prize.
Applicants in the writing category for the NLAC’s Project Grants Program are eligible for the award.
Her last novel for adults, “Bishop’s Road,” was published by Killick Press in 2004. The novel she is working on has been a work in progress for five years, though she reckons the final draft will be finished within the next two months.
Jackson, an educator and writer, died from brain cancer in 1998 at the age of 56. Family and friends sponsor the annual award.
According to a news release, it aims to encourage and promote “original and creative thought in all genres of writing.”
The NLAC provided her with a grant to finish a rewrite of her novel.
“They gave me a grant for that, which is quite a vote of confidence, and then to get this (award) is even more of a vote of confidence, so it’s kind of nice,” Hogan Safer said.
The award was presented to Hogan Safer Wednesday evening at the A.C. Hunter Library in St. John’s.
During the last five years, she’s also worked on a collection of short stories tentatively titled “Some of the Mud.” When that will clew up is uncertain — while it’s almost done, she said she continues to develop ideas for new short stories without necessarily intending to.
Not prepared to divulge a title or plot points for her new novel, Hogan Safer will only say that it is set in St. John’s, with most characters living on the same city street.
Asked what she would choose from between characters and concept in describing what inspires her work, Hogan Safer chose the former.
“People are pretty amazing. They wander around doing their thing, but there’s always a lot going on under the surface that nobody ever gets to see, so I like picking at characters that way and finding out what makes them tick.”
Hogan Safer gave her manuscript to an editor several months ago, and received a wealth of feedback. An ending she had not otherwise considered was discovered, characters were removed, and the title of ‘main character’ was shifted to a different person in the novel.
“There will be changes, and I just need to let some people recede a little bit to the background, and some people come forward a little bit, but the story is there, and it’s just a matter of cleaning it up now.”
Past winners of the Lawrence Jackson Writers’ Award are Scott Bartlett, Sara Tilley, Andreae Callanan, Michael Collins, Joel Thomas Hynes, Mark Callanan, Michael Johansen, Matthew Cook, Maura Hanrahan, Peter Hynes, Camille Fouillard, and Them Days. The winner is chosen by a peer assessment committee.