News

2007 Far Horizons Award for Short Fiction winner

The Malahat Review is pleased to announce the winner of the 2007 Far Horizons Award for Short Fiction: Matthew J. Trafford of Toronto, for “Past Perfect”, which was based on Robin Skelton’s notes entitled “Sales Service.”

MATTHEW J. TRAFFORD lives in Toronto. He has published poetry and reviews in Books in Canada, The Dalhousie Review, The Dominion, echolocation, and Pottersfield Portfolio. He is completing a short-fiction manuscript through UBC’s Optional-Residency MFA program; this is his first story to appear in print.

Our final judge was Joan Givner, who says of Matthew’s story, “…the writer has seized upon the spare details from Robin Skelton’s notes—the yard sale and the statuette—to use them not merely as springboards for a set of events but as resonant poetic images that ripple and spread, opening up the story to its many levels of meaning.” (Read the rest of the judge’s comments.)

As well as selecting the winning piece, Joan Givner also chose three finalists whose fine work deserved mention:

Anthony Labriola, from Oshawa, for “On the Ferry: Preliminary Notes for a Work on Humiliation.”

Jennifer Sutherland, from Toronto, for “Leave the Chair.”

Rachel Knudsen, from Vancouver, for “We Are Nearing Swartz Bay Terminal.”

The Malahat Review thanks all the entrants for their continuing support.