Kirsten McDougall’s Walking Day has taken out top honours in the open category of the Sunday Star-Times short story competition for 2020. lllustration: Rachel Trevelyan
Kirsten McDougall’s Walking Day has taken out top honours and a $5000 prize in the open category of the
Sunday Star-Times short story competition for 2020. The dogs started up before sunrise. A lone howl next a chorus of answers and fresh queries. Hungry lonely hungry loneleee Their cries entered Pip’s dreams and she woke full of warning. Dogs always knew when walking day came. No light round the rim of the shutters but the whole town would be awake with the dog racket. That was the cruel joke of it Father said. Walking day meant no labour but neither could you sleep.
Kirsten McDougall is the winner of the Sunday Star-Times short story competition, open category.
Kirsten McDougall’s love of reading and writing has come a long way since her interest in Enid Blyton and Trixie Belden books as a child. The accomplished Wellington author, who works as a publicist and literary manager for Victoria University Press, lives a life surrounded by words. ”That’s just my world.” And now McDougall can add
Sunday Star-Times short story competition open category winner to her CV for her piece,
Walking Day. She takes home the $5000 prize after almost 700 entries were received and blind judged over two categories.
Ask anyone who grew up in Kamloops about McQueen Lake Environmental Centre and the response will invariably involve a broad grin and dreamy-eyed memories of discovering the wonders of nature.
The centre located 20 kilometres north of Kamloops has been a magical spot for 40 years and four generations of students. They all leave a little bit of their heart up there, said Kirsten McDougall, who was the centre s first, and for a time, only employee.
On Saturday, the centre s founders, its former and current staff and volunteers, and a few of its many, many fans gather at the beautiful locale to celebrate its 40th anniversary.