Winners of the Okanagan Short Story contest are congratulated by judge Joanna Cockerline. From left: Yuvraj Singh, Olivia De Paz, Gwyneth Jones, Cockerline, Katya Kirschmann and Clare Thiessen.
There were some familiar names in the winners’ circle as the Okanagan Short Story Contest wrapped up last week.
The finalists of the 28th annual contest were announced at a public event by judge and local author Joanna Cockerline. The entries were imaginative, poignant and a testament to the quality of writers living in the region, says Cockerline, who is also a creative writing lecturer at UBC Okanagan.
“All the shortlisted stories from the contest are deserving of honour and recognition. It is exciting to see the new voices we have emerging in the Canadian literary landscape,” she adds.
The event took place April 15 at the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art, with each of the winners reading part of their story.
After the readings, Cockerline explained how hard it was to choose three stories from each category.
“The winning stories were compelling, thought-provoking and memorable,” she says. “The winner in the high school category shone so brightly, their story would have been among the top stories in the open category. It is my honour to recognize these talents and exciting voices.”
The adult-category winners were: Burning Bush by Katya Kirschmann in first place, second place went to Awake at Night, the Water Jar by Alison Braid-Fernandez and third place went to Clare Thiessen’s Snakeskin.
Kirschmann is a Master of Fine Arts student in UBCO’s creative writing program, Braid-Fernandez is a past contest winner and Thiessen—owner and operator of broke press in Vernon—has been shortlisted in previous contests.
The winners in the high school category were: Enter Daniel Kurtis by Gwyneth Jones in first place, second place for Calle Catorce by Olivia De Paz. And it was a tie for third place between The Peal by Yuvraj Singh and Did You Get the Fridge Fixed? by Gwyneth Jones.
Jones is a student at Mount Boucherie, De Paz at Okanagan Mission and Singh at W.L. Seaton. Each of the students also read from their stories at the event.
“These stories invite us to engage with the world in new and inventive ways, whether they are exploring the complexities of human relationships, playing with elements of magical realism or focusing on the seemingly small yet poignant moments in life that are anything but,” Cockerline says.
The annual contest, organized by the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies‘ creative writing program, is a writing competition open to fiction writers in British Columbia’s southern interior. UBCO faculty create a shortlist that are sent to a guest judge to choose the winners.
The Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies and the Central Okanagan Foundation are co-sponsors of the contest.
To see the full shortlist of the writers, visit: https://news.ok.ubc.ca/2026/04/09/winners-of-annual-fiction-writing-contest-to-be-announced/
