Chiller wins Star Short Story Contest
‘Windigo,’ a layered tale of a man-eating monster, tops 2,000 submissions
A chilling tale of insatiable man-eating monsters that lurk behind trees, love that ends tragically and the relationship between art and the artist are seamlessly interwoven in “Wendigo,” first-place winner in the Toronto Star 2016 Short Story Contest.
Winning author Katie Bryski, 24, is “thrilled” that a fantasy story has been recognized as part of the literary corpus. “It’s validating and wonderful,” said the Toronto resident whose “perpetually hungry, cannibalistic spirits” dwell in French-Canadian legends and native lore — where the mere mention of windigo creatures make even the most courageous recoil.
“This story posits that art can be a fork of cannibalism as well,” she said. “Emotionally starved, our two characters become windigo in their own well. Though a loving send-up of artists, it is in no way autobiographical.” “Wendigo” was among almost 2,000 submissions to the 38th annual contest, considered the largest in Canada and one of the most lucrative in North America. The announcement was made Thursday at the Yorkville branch of the Toronto Public Library. Bryski receives $5,000 and paid tuition for the 30-week creative writing correspondence program at the Humber School for Writers, valued at about $3,000.
Bryski has been “scribbling as long as I can remember,” and many of her works are historical fiction, set in the 19th century. She sold her first novel to indie publisher Dragon Moon Press in 2012, when she also began podcasting. Her novel Hapax was a Foreword Book of the Year finalist in 2012, and the short story “Under Oak Island” was a 2014 Parsec finalist (for Excellence in Speculative Fiction Podcasting).
“Short stories are a hard market, but I’ve placed at least one a year since 2013,” says the graduate of the Stonecoast creative writing MFA, who has also written for the Canadian Children’s Opera Company and Daily Science Fiction.
Last year, the author and a colleague began writing scenes and theatre-based education programs at Black Creek Pioneer Village, work that inspires her stories.
In second place, author Jennifer Burns’ story “Okaywin” offers a slice of life in cottage country exploring themes such as loss, grief, aging and parenthood in the 21st century. It’s the first story she’s written in ages.
The 40-year-old former librarian took a break from her job as a sales manager for a book seller to pursue writing and was inspired by the beautiful surroundings on a summer vacation at Paudash Lake in Haliburton. “I see stories everywhere and am always observing,” she said.
Burns came up with the last line of her story within a few weeks. It took three months to write the rest.
She receives $2,000 and plans to “invest in my writing,” attending another workshop at the University of Toronto “or pay for a babysitter so I can keep on writing.” She’s expecting her second child.
Third-place winner Josh Herzog said most of his story, “Lydia Speaker,” was written on his cellphone during subway commutes. A property manager and accountant, he wrote it not knowing where it would lead. “I discover as I go,” he said of his creative process.
The 34-year-old got interested in writing while working on a degree in philosophy at the Western University.
“I always had ideas and thought it would be neat to try it.” The last time he wrote was 10 years ago and now is pondering a book.
Then again, it’s not easy. “In Grade 3, my writing folder was full of drafts,” he recalled. “I never completed a story.”
Herzog took home a $1,000 prize.
Picking the winners wasn’t easy either.
“There was a lot of animated discussion among the judges this year,” said Star books editor Deborah Dundas, who was among this year’s judges. With so many interesting entries, “most of us came to the table with different initial choices, which gave us a fairly broad base of finalists to choose from. There were many very original voices and this year the original voices really rose to the top.”
Also on the judging panel were Toronto’s city librarian Vickery Bowles, award-winning short-story author Pasha Malla and theatre critic and author Richard Ouzounian. The Toronto Public Library and Humber College School of Writers have been longtime partners in the contest.
Winners’ stories will be published in full in the Star over the next three Sundays, starting with third place on Sunday, and online Friday, Saturday and Sunday.