I've done it - I've finished reading The Journey Prize 2014. Although the collection was slightly-less impressive than the year previous, I always looked forward to Friday morning class, with coffee and pastry in hand, where my professor, peers and I would discuss the various stories considered to be the best in the Canadian literary world. We all adored the spunky story How to Tell if Your Frog is Dead. Kristen and I were left heartbroken by Sealskin, while Amy Tan's story had me slight confused and intrigued (I love her writing). Hashtag Maggie Vandeerven made my heart ache for my mother - a sensation any good story should make you feel. However, I didn't agree with last year's winner, so when I searched up the recipient of a whooping $10,000 first-place prize, I was pleasantly surprised to see my favorite piece had won. Tyler Keevil, the author of Sealskin, actually lives in Wales, not Nova Scotia, where his story takes place. Although the build up made the conflict almost too obvious, the graphic details were shocking and extremely well-written. Keevil has two novels out, which I intend to add to my rapidly-increasing summer reading list. The finalists, Lori McNulty for Monsoon Season and Clea Young for Juvenile seem well suited for their $1000 awards as well. I'm keen to see what talent next year brings! |
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Does anyone (besides me) remember the adorable (and all-too-believable) commercial "The North American House Hippo"? The mythical creature stars in a 1999 Canadian public service announcement that cautions viewers to consider what they consume, and become aware of life's harsh realities.
The tone in this story immediately reminded me of the house hippo or a radio monologue. The piece is rich with irony and blatantly attacks our society's dependence of instructions and the ability to answer anything on Google. Lines such as "Either way, your child will learn to distinguish imaginary monsters from the real terrors of living and dying" and "It is perfectly natural, and your child will learn a valuable lesson about tolerance and diversity" poke fun at our over-analytic worries and expectations, especially those of parents. The moral of this story is that life lessons must be experience authentically; there are too many "ifs" and "buts" in life to plan epiphanies. |
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