I’M EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE that I am no longer simply a bridesmaid, but now a bride. “But, Audrey,” you’re likely thinking, “you’ve been married for 44 years.” Oh, yes, I have. However, I recently placed first in a writing competition, making me a “bride” after numerous past honorable mentions and second placings as a “bridesmaid.”
This past Saturday I traveled to Jack Pines Resort near Park Rapids in far northern Minnesota to collect my cash prize and to read my winning short story, “Ingrid’s Dream.” It is the story of a writer who plans to build a writer’s shed with wood salvaged from the barn on the homestead of her great grandparents. Conflict arises when her husband objects.
I’m not giving away the ending to this 564-word short story. You’ll have to buy a copy of Lyrics, Talking Stick #35 published by the nonprofit Jack Pine Writers’ Bloc (no connection to the resort). But I will share that, even though I didn’t realize it while writing this piece back in February, real-life events subconsciously influenced my story. Operation Metro Surge, the federal immigration enforcement effort in Minnesota, was in full-on mode when I crafted “Ingrid’s Dream.” And Ingrid’s great grandparents were Norwegian immigrants with hopes and dreams.
This story is in no way a political statement. Those are not allowed in the Talking Stick competition. But it touches on immigration, reminding all of us that, unless we are Native or the descendants of slaves, we are, or are of, immigrants.
To read Ingrid’s story aloud to an appreciative audience of Minnesota writers and others on Saturday felt simultaneously humbling and empowering. I was honored to have my work initially selected by the Talking Stick editorial team for prize consideration and then chosen by Minnesota author Jeanne Cooney for the top fiction prize. Cooney writes the Hot Dish Heaven mysteries and the It’s Murder series.
Lyrics, Talking Stick #35 features the work of 68 writers who are either Minnesotans or who have a strong connection to our state. That’s an entry requirement. In this year’s contest, 132 writers submitted 330 entries with 71 poems, 18 creative nonfiction stories, 15 fiction stories and 17 creative twist stories chosen for publication.
I enter in all four categories, a bit of an anomaly among writers. My writing has published for nearly 20 consecutive years in the Talking Stick anthology. In addition to the fictional “Ingrid’s Dream,” my creative nonfiction entries, “About That Hole in the Wall” and “Unlocking Silence,” made it into this year’s anthology. One is about an embarrassing cardboard wall covering a hole in my dining room and the other about an aged accordion gifted from an aunt to her nephew.
While listening to other writers read their works at Jack Pines Resort, I was once again reminded of the incredible creative talent rooted in Minnesota. This includes recognizable names like Nicole Borg, Charmaine Pappas Donovan, Laura L. Hansen, Margaret Hasse, Mike Lein, Niomi Rohn Phillips and more along with Brenda Charpentier, a newbie to the competition and first place winner in creative nonfiction. Like me, she comes to creative writing with a journalism background as does another writer, Bernadette Hondl Thomasy, originally from Owatonna and with a poem and creative nonfiction story published in Lyrics, Talking Stick #35.
My admiration of Minnesota writers was reinforced after the reading when some of us socialized and talked shop afterwards over dinner. Writing is such a solitary pursuit. But in gathering with others who love the craft, I felt a surge of energy, of validation, of gratitude that I can do what I love. Write.
FYI: Lyrics, Talking Stick #35 is available for purchase online.
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