Four Make the Shortlist for our September Writing Contest
We are so pleased to announce that FOUR writers have made the shortlist for our September Write Prompt Challenge.
We try to choose images that can take authors in countless directions, and the image of lanterns certainly took people to some interesting places. These writers approached the provided image with wonderfully unique views that were clever and surprising.
Congratulations to Adrian Markle, Desiree Nippard, Andrew Shaughnessy, and Matthew Spence — we wish you well as you go on to the final stage of judging!
Adrian Markle | shortlisted for the story, 'Only Collects'
Adrian Markle is the author of the novel Bruise (Brindle & Glass, 2024). He has approximately twenty stories in or forthcoming in magazines and anthologies in the UK, US, Europe, and Canada, including EVENT, Queen's Quarterly, and Pithead Chapel, for which he has been nominated for a Pushcart and Best Small Fictions.
Born and raised in BC, he has a PhD in English by Creative Practice from the University of Exeter and teaches creative writing at Falmouth University in the UK.
Desiree Nippard| shortlisted for the story, 'An Early Thaw'
Desiree Nippard is an English Teacher in a small town in Central Newfoundland. She fills her days sharing her passion for literature with her students, and her evenings with long walks along the beach or in the woods with her dogs. She graduated from Memorial University with a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Secondary Education, Diploma of Technology Education and a Masters of Educational Technology.
Most recently she has taken a deep dive into her writing and is currently completing her first novel, alongside a series of poems and short stories. Desiree finds comfort in the pages of a good book or on the front patio writing as the sun sets over the bay.
Andrew Shaughnessy | shortlisted for the story, 'The End of the Line'
Andrew (Andy) Shaughnessy is a two-time bronze medal winner in Blank Spaces contests (December 2021 and June 2023). He is an intellectual property litigation lawyer, short story writer, and poet living in Toronto and Gravenhurst. He over uses m-dashes (and parentheses) and has (the love of) a dog.
Matthew Spence | shortlisted for the story, 'The Final Migration'
Matthew is a political science and criminology graduate of the University of Toronto Mississauga. He loves film, television, books and writing.
Watch for our announcement of the top three in the coming weeks!
