Celebrating the Art of Words: Winners of the 2024 Ekphrastic Literary Contest
Contributed by Lucy E.M. Black
A wine and cheese celebration was held at Scugog Arts on the evening of May 9th to highlight the literary successes of this year’s Ekphrastic Writing prize-winners. Hosted by Marion Myers, Chair of our Board of Directors and long-time volunteer, the contest utilized art from the annual juried show as writing prompts.
Four stunning pieces of work were selected and used as inspiration for this year’s contestants. Bethany Aiken’s finely detailed painting of“Leonard” (a kestrel kept at the Toronto Zoo), Morning Coffee by Bille Von Roeder, Moon Magic by Jesse Wheelock, and Seeking Beauty by Shelby Strong.
Each of the award winners spoke to the inspiration behind their work and read a short excerpt from their writing. This year’s contest judges were local author Lucy E.M. Black, and Scugog’s Poet Laureate, Hollay Ghadery. The judges commented upon the high calibre of the work and the richness of the imagery used in all of the entries.
The award winners were as follows:
Category: Adult Short Stories
1st – Glenna Agnew with Morning Coffee (painting Morning Coffee by Bille Von Roeder)
2nd – Amita Dayal with Hawk (painting Leonard by Bethany Aiken)
3rd – Teresa Veltman with Caught (painting Morning Coffee by Bille Von Roeder)
Category: Adult Poem
1st – Wojciech Gurak with Morning Coffee (painting Morning Coffee by Bille Von Roeder)
Category: Youth Poem
A lovely moment took place when Wojciech Gurak presented Billie Von Roeder with a copy of the poem he had written. Wojciech and his wife also purchased Billie’s painting to keep in their home. Izzy Lefay wore their fringed western-styled jacket to the event as a sweet gesture to acknowledge the figure in Billie’s painting which inspired the poem.
This annual writing contest continues to grow in popularity and is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the literary arts in our town.