John Wins Second Anson Award in Four Years for His Short Story 'Esque

For the second time in four years, John took home First Place in the Adult Prose category at the Anson County Writers' Club Award Ceremony, held Sunday, February 23rd at the Little Theater in Wadesboro, N.C. His short story "'Esque" beat out strong entries "If It's Black and White It's a Holstein" by Kelly Liddington, and "Come Ye Thankful People, Come" by Kaye Ratliff, which won Second and Third Place, respectively.

The judges praised the way John's story "started as a conventional narrative, then took the reader to unexpected places with a winning mix of humor, pathos, and metaphor."

John joins just a handful of multiple-Anson winners in the thirty-one-year history of the awards. His short story "Bandito" also won the Adult Prose category in 2016.

The award comes with a cash prize and publication in the triennial Anson Pathways collection.

In his acceptance speech, John explained the title of the story: "I belong to a writers group in Davidson, Main Street Writers. Last summer, we did an exercise in which we wrote a story about metamorphosis in the style of Franz Kafka. Kafkaesque. Hence, I called my story "'Esque" with a wink and a nod." John went on to explain how writers need a sense of community and the support and critique of other writers, and that's why groups such as Main Street Writers and the Anson County Writers' Club are important. "For the most part, writing is a solitary avocation, but the solitary writer can fall in love with his own nonsensical drivel, or too easily dismiss his own good work as trivial. A strong cohort keeps you grounded while providing the leg-up we all need sometimes."

"'Esque," along with two other new stories, "Day Game" and "Bittersweet Gypsum," will be included in Twi-Night Doubleheader, a retrospective of John's fiction work which will also contain complete reprints of his two previous short story collections, The Bug Jar and Other Stories, and Ocean of Storms. It will be published by Lulu Press in March 2020.

Comments

FRIDAY MATINEE: Midnight Mass (🍺🍺🍺🍺)

I held off writing this review until I had seen all seven episodes of the new Netflix limited series “Midnight Mass.” I’ve been burned in the past by shows that start out well and then devolve into silliness as they progress. While “Mass" doesn’t completely stick the landing, I think even the East German judge would give it a solid 9. Taken as a whole, I think it is as effective a piece of horror as the combined “It” movies from a few years ago, and right on par with “Hereditary” and “Midsommar.” The story revolves around a man returning to his childhood island home after a prison stay for a drunk driving accident that killed a teen girl. Coincidentally, it is the same day the island’s beloved elderly priest, Monsignor Pruitt is supposed to return from a trip to the Holy Land. Unfortunately, the priest has taken ill and is being treated on the mainland. A temporary priest arrives to take his place. The story takes a little while to get going, and anyone who’s familiar with t...

Ancient Artifacts, Huntersville Edition

On Saturday, I replanted a flower bed near my garage. I have been trying to grow lavender and creeping jenny there for the past few years and the results have been underwhelming. I decided to pull everything out, double-dig the whole bed, add some peat to improve drainage and replant it. About halfway through the process, my shovel hit something metallic. Looking down, I was able to make out the remnants of some sort of cylindrical object. Believing that I might have stumbled onto a major archaeological find, I proceeded slowly, carefully removing the accumulated dirt and debris from around the object. Although it was now badly deformed and in two pieces, it was immediately clear to me that the artifact was originally a single tube-like structure, about five inches tall and two inches in diameter. It was made from a light, flexible metal and painted in bright red, green and white shapes. Although the condition of the object made it difficult to ascertain what the design might have ...

Don't Listen to the Old Man in the Pickup Truck

As economic development director for Anson County, I strongly urge you to vote FOR the Mixed Beverage* Election November 8th. But, more importantly, I encourage you to listen to the voices of the young professionals upon whom the future of the county will depend. If you look closely at the lower right-hand corner of the blue and white signs urging a FOR vote on Mixed Beverages, you will see they are paid for by YP Anson. So what is YP Anson? Is it some political action committee funded by out-of-state alcoholic beverage manufacturers and casino owners? No, it's Young Professionals Anson, an organization made up of and funded entirely by local business people and community members under the age of 40. They are the bankers, real estate agents, lawyers, shop owners, entrepreneurs, factory managers, and tradespeople who will lead Anson County into the next decade and beyond. Most of them were born and raised here, left to get a college education, and chose to return and raise a family...

John B. Marek

Search This Blog