From song lyrics to short fiction, memoir and poetry, Sooke All Sorts contains all sorts of writing from Sooke region authors.
“Sooke All Sorts – Sooke Writers’ Collective Anthology Five – includes six winning entries from student writers and all sorts of entries from emerging and established writers,” said Deb Clay, who coordinated the anthology’s production and contributed the book design, at the May 27th launch.
Student contest winners for 2018 are: Poetry – Max Walther (first prize), Colby Benty (second prize) and Ella Dennett (honourable mention); Fiction - Michael Ross (first prize), Christina Seabrook (second prize) and Colby Benty (honourable mention). Student winners receive a cash prize and publication in the annual anthology.
Eighteen local authors also contributed works. Author and artist P. Pallot designed the cover art. Highlights from Sooke All Sorts include:
• Prize-winning short fiction Free as the River in which a man learns that memories can strand us in life’s eddies, and sometimes freedom can only come when we escape the people we used to be (David Reichheld);
• Poetry from newcomers Sabrina L’Heureux, Teminey Beckers and Cheryl Nitchie, as well as Mel Denys, Tatjana Darling, Linda Green Abraham and dl clay;
• Excerpt from V. Knox’s upcoming book Time Falls Like Snow, the second piece in the middle-grade Bede trilogy.
• Three colourful songs from Jim Bottomley.
• Short fiction from Nancy Davies where a widower finds an unexpected way to pay for a dream fishing trip in Muddled Mojito, and D. K. Eve’s “Miracle on Route 14” where a family finds faith on a long winter drive home.
• A glimpse of several lifetimes of people who have passed through Shibuya train station in P. Pallot’s Reincarnation in Shibuya, and illustrations from P. Pallot and Mel Denys.
• A range of memoir from five authors, including more tales from Rene Low of a broke writer living in a famous Parisian bookstore, C. E. M. Winstanley’s experiences working in an orphanage in Central America, Angela Dorsey’s pescatarian problem in Columbia, Bill Churchill’s encounter in Golan Heights in 1978 and Ina Shah’s star-struck attempt at buying her teen idol’s love with a giant donut.
Sooke All Sorts is available for purchase for $12 at Sooke Region Museum gift shop, Artisan’s Garden, The Barking Dog Studio, Well-Read Books and online at www.sookewriters.com.
Proceeds of sales go to support future EMCS student writing contest prizes, a 2018 anthology and future writing events for the benefit of the community.
The Sooke Writers’ Collective evolved from the Sooke Scribblers. The collective provides community, support, feedback and writing practice for writers in any genre in the Sooke region (East Sooke, Sooke, Otter Point, and Shirley). The group meets the first Wednesday of the month at the Sooke Library and features guest speakers and educational talks.