A Coquitlam author is shortlisted for two literary contests organized by the Federation of BC Writers.
Ace Baker, a Dr. Charles Best Secondary teacher, writing coach and poet, is a finalist in the flash fiction and short story categories for his works The Match and Wave Runner.
This summer, Baker published How To Make a Killing Jar, a collection of short stories, which was nominated for the Atwood-Gibson Writers’ Trust Prize.
The federation is expected to announce the winners today, Dec. 12.
Each of the 40 shortlisted and winning contributors will have their pieces published in the federations’s annual anthology titled Roots to Branches.
"We had 483 entries this year, our greatest number to date," said executive director Bryan Mortensen in a news release.
"The federation congratulates all who submitted in 2023. I heard from our judges and readers that it was difficult to generate our longlists, shortlists and beyond."
The Federation of BC Writers boasts more than 1,600 members and aims to promote excellence and professionalism in the literary arts in B.C. and the Yukon.
The finalists for its 2023 Literary Contest are as follows:
Creative Nonfiction Shortlist
- Scrabble Tiles by Charmaine Arjoonlal, Whitehorse, Yukon
- The Intersection by Jana Danniels, Nelson
- The Leap by Linda Doctoroff, Victoria
- Baby Birder by Haley Healey, Nanaimo
- Elevator Love by Wanda Hurren, Victoria
- This Boy by Angela Kenyon, Vancouver
- Parfait by Diane Massam, Victoria
- Hunting Down Jesus by Lindy Hughes Pfeil, West Vancouver
- My Heart is Cedar by Fay Roth, Mayne Island
- Normal and Natural by Nancy Yakimoski, Victoria
Flash Fiction Shortlist
- The Match by Ace Baker, Coquitlam
- August Childhood by Debra Bennett, Salt Spring Island
- The Grizzly by Laurène Boutin, Wardner
- 1963: Lush, Wet, Red by Jana Danniels, Nelson
- Afterlife by Keith Digby, Crofton
- Three Things I like About My Cactus by Susan Down, Victoria
- Maizie and Norm by Bill Engleson, Denman Island
- Chosen to Leave by Genevieve Goggin, Vancouver
- Ralphie by Cynthia Pronick, Crofton
- Harold and Peg by Linda Thompson, Port Alberni
Poetry Shortlist
- One Night in Mostar by Nicole Ardiel, Victoria
- Barefoot in the Salish Sea by Michelle Poirier Brown, Vernon
- Burning Tiger - Dresden Poem by Sidney Coles, Victoria
- Deadheading by Lynn Easton, Nanaimo
- In the Belly of a Prairie Wolf by Veronika Gorlova, Vancouver
- Desiccation by Norma Kerby, Terrace
- Then and Now by Laura Mackie, Barriere
- Jacob’s Ladder by Clare Sharpe, Victoria
- Blur by Joanna Streetly, Tofino
- Ringtone by Joanna Streetly, Tofino
Short Story Shortlist
- Wave Runner by Ace Baker, Coquitlam
- Climb On by Jann Everard, Sidney
- Interference by Tyler Finley, Kelowna
- Triumph by Tyler Finley, Kelowna
- View from the Sidewalk by Roy Innes, Gabriola Island
- Fear No Evil by Cheryl Knopp, Vancouver
- This is Living by Mira Landry, Cranbrook
- Opportunity Knocks by Mary Long-Schimanke, Nanaimo
- Corn Soup by Sarah Munn, North York, Ontario
- Me Time by Caroline Thorne, Toronto, Ontario
