St. Peter's Community and Local Author Honoured
St. Peter's College extends sincere congratulation to Don Ward on his first place CBC Literary Award for his short story piece Badger. Don currently works out of St. Peter's Press for the Prairie Messenger.
The following story was published in the Star Phoenix on Friday, March 19, 2010:
Saskatoon author Donald Ward has an unlikely duo, a badger and a monk, to than for a national honour and some prize money to boot.
Ward was awarded first place in the CBC Literary Award short story category for his piece Badger. The story pairs two solitary characters, a monk and a badger.
Winners in three categories, including creative non-fiction and poetry, were announced on CBC Radio One Thursday.
Although people usually think he is calm and collected, Ward said the announcement found him in an emotional state. "Actually, beneath the skin, I'm a startled mass of seething flesh," he said in an interview from Toronto.
"I spoke to the woman in charge of the contest for CBC, and she said, 'Well, Don, you've won,' and I said, 'Well isn't that nice' and I thanked her profusely.
"Then I told my wife and burst into tears. I'm very moved and affirmed by this."
Ward's story was chosen from 28 finalist to win the Bob Weaver Fiction Prize worth $6,000. The author said he plans to use the money to pay off some debt and travel.
The short story jury called Badger "at once subtle and precise, one that can be read on multiple levels, each of them gratifying."
Vancouver author Elissa Vann Struth took home second prize and $4,000 for her short story Down to the Roots.
Ward's recognition has been nearly 40 years in the making.
When the author was just 19, he sold his first story to CBC Radio.
Since then, Ward has played a role in the production of more that 150 books. His first collection of short stories, Nobody Goes to Earth Any More, won book of the year at the 2003 Saskatchewan Book Awards.
The CBC Literary Awards judge previously unpublished works by professional and amateur writers from across Canada. Twelve entries, six in English and six in French, were chosen by the juries to win a total of $60,000 in prize money. The winning pieces will be published in enRoute magazine. Ward's Badger will be available to read in June.
Other Saskatchewan finalist included Middle Lake's Shelley Leedahl and Pamela Porter, a British Columbia author with Saskatchewan connections. Both women were finalist in the poetry category. Former Saskatchewan resident Leslie Hall Pinder was nominated in the creative non-fiction category.
