Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to page-level navigation Go to the Disability Resource Centre Website Go to the DRC Booking Accommodation Portal Go to the Inclusive Technology Lab Website
The University of British Columbia
UBC - A Place of Mind
The University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
UBC Okanagan News
  • Research
  • People
    • Student Profile
    • Faculty Profile
    • Alumni Spotlight
  • Campus Life
    • Campus News
    • Student Life
    • Teaching & Learning
  • Community Engagement
  • About the Collection
    • Stories for Media
  • UBCO Events
  • Search All Stories
Home / 2018 / April / 18 / Kelowna writer wins UBC Okanagan’s annual short story contest
Arts & Humanities

Kelowna writer wins UBC Okanagan’s annual short story contest

April 18, 2018

Finalists in the 2018 Okanagan Short Story Contest, from left: Assoc. Prof. Michael V. Smith, MFA student Victoria Alvarez (second place), MA IGS student Brittni MacKenzie-Dale (first place), Bethany Pardoe (winner, high-school category), Samantha Macpherson (third place) and contest judge Karen Hofmann.

Finalists in the 2018 Okanagan Short Story Contest, from left: Assoc. Prof. Michael V. Smith, MFA student Victoria Alvarez (second place), MA IGS student Brittni MacKenzie-Dale (first place), Bethany Pardoe (winner, high-school category), Samantha Macpherson (third place) and contest judge Karen Hofmann.

Perseverance pays off for Master of Arts student

It was four times the charm for a local writer.

Kelowna’s Brittni MacKenzie-Dale is the winner of this year’s Okanagan Short Story Contest. Organized and partially-sponsored by UBC Okanagan, the contest is an annual writing competition open to fiction writers in British Columbia’s Southern Interior.

MacKenzie-Dale is a current UBC Okanagan Master of Arts (MA) student. Her story entitled, “They Called Him Luke” landed her in first place in the 20th running of the annual contest. It wasn’t her first time as a finalist in the contest. In 2016, MacKenzie-Dale placed third—and had a second entry short-listed—and in 2015 she had two stories shortlisted.

Second place this year with her story, “Blood Sport” is Lake Country’s Victoria Alvarez, a UBC Okanagan MA student. Third place went to Samantha Macpherson of Lake Country with her story, “Do I Dare to Eat a Peach.”

Contest judge and Thompson Rivers University Associate Professor Karen Hofmann—who won this contest last year—announced each of the winners at a special event at the Okanagan Regional Library in Kelowna on Monday, which featured readings from the top winners. More than 100 entries were submitted and once they were shortlisted, Hofmann was given about a dozen anonymous entries to whittle down the winner’s list.

New for 2018 was a high school category, with Bethany Pardoe of Nelson’s LV Rogers Secondary School winning top honour with her story, “Sunlight.” Runners-up (in alphabetical order) are Finn Tobin of Mount Boucherie Secondary School, with “Red Racer 2000,” and Anna Vajda of Heritage Christian Online School, with “Transylvanian Vacation.”

Contest organizer and UBC Associate Professor Michael V. Smith joked that the contest is actually older than some of the winners.

“This is a banner event for Okanagan writers and was another great success,” says Smith. “Being able to celebrate 20 years of prize money for Okanagan stories is an exciting marker.”

This year, the Okanagan Short Story Contest had $2,000 in prize money to present. Smith thanked the contest funders and sponsors: the Central Okanagan Foundation, the Amber Webb-Bowerman Memorial Foundation, the Kelowna Capital News and subTerrain magazine.

Along with $1,000 in prize money, MacKenzie-Dale’s winning entry will be published in subTerrain magazine this fall.

Media Contact

Patty Wellborn
Media Relations Strategist
University Relations

The University of British Columbia
Okanagan campus
Tel: 250 317 0293
E-mail: patty.wellborn@ubc.ca

Content type: Media Release
More content from: Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies

Trending Stories

  • Pushing the boundaries of spinal cord research
  • Climate change is chasing away the salmon, so she’s ...
  • Work Study opens new doors for undergraduates
  • Safeguarding water quality
  • Strengthening Indigenous community through research
All Stories
Contact Media Relations

About UBC Okanagan

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose traditional, ancestral and unceded territory the campus resides. The most established and influential global rankings all consistently place UBC in the top five per cent of universities in the world, and among the top three Canadian universities.

The Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

Discover more about UBC Okanagan

Find a Program Admissions Book a Tour UBCO Facts
UBC Okanagan Campus News, University Relations

Innovation Precinct Annexation 1 (IA1)
3505 Spectrum Court
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 2Z1

We respectfully acknowledge the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples, in whose traditional, ancestral, unceded territory UBC Okanagan is situated.

 

Search all stories

Subscribe to receive news by email

Visit UBC's Vancouver news room

Global and Admin Messages

News

Okanagan Campus

TikTok icon Linkedin icon

UBC Okanagan News
Okanagan Campus
3333 University Way
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 1V7
Find us on
  
Back to top
The University of British Columbia
  • Emergency Procedures |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Copyright |
  • Accessibility