Bay Lit recognises writers and charms visitors
Placegetters in the Bay Lit 2011 competition last Thursday evening. Photo: Neil Wilson.
Golden Bay’s annual celebration of the written word is going from strength to strength. The awards ceremony for the writing competition BayLit, now a key component of Word Fest, took place at the Mussel Inn last Thursday.
Prize-winners were invited to read their work to the large crowd and plenty of writers took the opportunity to enjoy sharing their creativity with a live audience.
Not everyone in the crowd had gone to the Mussel Inn for the BayLit ceremony, however. Norwegians Marta Gjestvang and Oivind Tommeras, who currently live in China, and Jessica Morrish from Houston, Texas, are in the country for the Rugby World Cup. The food and beer at the Mussel Inn had been recommended to them in their travels so they came to the Bay and enjoyed some of our other attractions as well. They said they were “charmed” by the Bay Lit ceremony and especially by the writers’ performances. Jessica immediately decided that she would like to adopt Bay poet Mona Randall as her Nana and take her home to Texas. In the end she settled for a signed copy of Mona’s book, The Geriatric Garden and Other Poems.
The awards evening was co-ordinated by the Golden Bay Writers’ Group and the Golden Bay Community Arts Council. Arts worker Lynn Udell said that the judges, Rachel McAlpine (poetry) and Lindy Kelly (story) had been impressed by the quality of the work submitted. Lynne read some of their highly complimentary remarks.
Neil Wilson
Bay Lit winners 2011
Poetry. Children. 1st: The Cave by Lizzie Laws. 2nd: The Orange Pumpkin Comes Out at Night by Areta Milne. Equal 3rd: Lollies and Treats by Lizzie Laws; Perceptions by Jesse Eckert. Youth. 1st: Why Oh Why? by Timo Milne. 2nd: Thinking of You by Jess Armstrong. 3rd: Senses by Laura Mae-Parker. Adult. Non-Rhyming. 1st: Hands by James Barnes. 2nd: Wasteland by Elizabeth Gingell. 3rd: Infusion by Joe Bell. Adult Rhyming. 1st: Equality by Jenny Heath. 2, Willie the Weta by Mona Randall. 3rd: I’m Glad I’m Not Chinese by Toni Watts.
Short Story: Children. 1st: Full Moon by Angus Shelly. 2nd: The Firefighter Saves the Day by Lauren Berkett. Equal 3rd: Mix Up, Vincent Simms, and Beware the Werewolf by Laila Balzer. Youth.1st: Broken Window by Jacob Utteridge. 2nd: The Missing Link by Tullia Wilson. 3rd: What If by Hannah Grant. Adult.1st: Seal’s Nest by James Barnes. 2nd: What? by Tui Kraal. 3rd: Black Magic by Linda Sharp.
