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2011 Far Horizons Award for Short Fiction winner

Congratulations to Zoey Peterson (Vancouver, BC) on winning the 2011 Far Horizons Award for Short Fiction with her entry, “Next Year, For Sure.” The Far Horizons Award celebrates the achievement of emerging writers who have yet to publish their fiction in book form.

Peterson’s short story will be published in our Fall 2011 issue (#176). Final judge Gerard Beirne (New Brunswick) chose her story from 229 entries. Beirne said: “‘Next Year, For Sure’ is a great title for a very fine story. A worthy winner of the Far Horizons Award for Short Fiction. The future of the relationship explored in this story is far from certain. Indeed, the doubtful nature of relationships in general and their insistent dependency upon the past provides the impetus for the unfolding narrative. From page to page, the story and its language surprises so that we too remain uncertain of the direction we are headed towards. The strong narratorial voice pulls us uneasily into the unknown. What lies around the bend has yet to be encountered. Be that as it may, the assured and good-humoured tone ultimately provides reassurance. To quote the narrator – ‘It says you are open to possibilities.’”

Zoey Peterson

Zoey Peterson, winner of the 2011 Far Horizons Award for Fiction!

Zoey Peterson is a grad student in Vancouver and writes fiction in those early morning hours before the library opens.

Gerard Beirne is an Irish author currently living in New Brunswick. He was appointed as Writer-In-Residence at the University of New Brunswick in 2008/2009. He is a director of the Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick and is a fiction editor of The Fiddlehead. His novel The Eskimo in the Net was published by Marion Boyars in 2003 and was short-listed for the 2004 Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award.

Read an interview with Zoey Peterson regarding her win here.

Read an interview with Zoey Peterson two-years post-win here.

We would also like to congratulate this year's finalists:

Erin Fisher, "Suite in Dark Matter"
Tanya M. Gadsby, "Skinned Seal"
Elaine Hayes, "Way Better Than a Prepaid Funeral"
Michael Kissinger, "The Daytime Community"
Joanna Lilley, "Rearranging Rainbows"
Dan Mancilla, "Shangri La Dee Da"
David A. Poulsen, "Costumes"
Jeremy Siemens, "Hanging with Halle"
Kilby Smith-McGregor, "Scorched Earth"
Heather Tucker, "Butterfly as Metaphor"
Albert Wachtel, "Delsie"

The deadline for our next Far Horizons Award for Short Fiction will be May 1, 2013.

Previous Prize Winners