Alison Braid of Summerland, took first place at the 25^th annual Okanagan Short Story Contest for her short story “Two Day Summer”.

At an event held in April of 2023, contest judge Corrina Chong had this to say about Alison’s work: “Upon reading the very first sentence of “Two Day Summer,” I knew I was in the hands of an expert. Every sentence of this story is beautifully crafted, the characters are richly drawn, and the conflict is layered with delicate precision.”

As part of the top prize, we offer a one-week retreat at The Woodhaven Eco Culture Centre. Alison stayed at Woodhaven in the studio suite for a week in July of 2023, and said that she loved the tranquility of the area and the dedicated time away from distractions to work.

“Having the beautiful window was the highlight of my stay. I wrote most days on the bench, looking out at the trees,” she added.

Braid also said that she can see herself coming back to the studio for more time to work uninterrupted.

“Thank you for such a wonderful experience. I think it’s an incredible bonus to have as a prize along with the cash award – making space and time for your work is so difficult, and Woodhaven did exactly that.”

Read the intro to the story, The Young Boxer , that Braid started writing while at the Woodhaven retreat.

Alison Braid’s work has been shortlisted for the Montreal International Poetry Prize, Arc Poetry Magazine’s Poem of the Year Contest, and The Bridport Prize in Flash Fiction. She is the author of the chapbook Little Hunches (Anstruther Press, 2020.) She holds an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and is currently working to finish a collection of short stories, titled Look Both Ways & Other Stories.

(image: Left to right: Jason (Darian Detta’s brother who accepted the award on his behalf), Kristen Burns, Alison Braid, and Corinna Chong. Not pictured: Madeleine van Goudoever)

Nicola Harwood spent another two weeks at the Woodhaven Culture Centre. Nicola shared some words below about the time she spent working on her artistic practice; see below.

Another productive, restorative residency at Woodhaven Eco Cultural centre.

This year I made a point of connecting with some of the humans (rather than just the deer and quail!) who support the centre and the land conservancy next door. I attended a wildflower walk with Nancy Holmes in the conservancy and got know the history of the land, plans for the future and to meet several neighbours and women who help to steer the Conservancy Society.

On our walk we noted wild Blue Clematis, tiny White Blessings and lots of Oregon Grape in bloom. We also discussed the dying cedar in the forest and the issue of ground water management that badly needs to be addressed in order for the forest to stay healthy. It is heartening to see the care these folks put into the land and also worrisome that these trees are leaving us. I hope very much that the Regional District of the Okanagan and the City of Kelowna listen to these caregivers and start to strategize about how to make sure the groundwater, which is there, but being culverted and so unavailable to the trees, is brought back. I really hope the neighbours also get involved as I noticed that most of the cedars in the neighbourhood, not just in the forest, are dying due to this ground water engineering issue.

Thanks to UBCO and all the people who surround this residency with love and support. It continues to be an unmatched treasure in the valley. So necessary for the animals, birds, insects, plants and their strange companions, us artists and writers.

Some of the work I created there, working in monoprint.

View Nicola’s residency post from her previous time at Woodhaven in 2022. Find out more about Nicola Harwood: www.nicolaharwood.com.