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May 31, 2024
For Immediate Release
BRANTFORD – Assumption College School student Navraj Patial’s short story Achhut has been chosen as the first-place winner in the biennial 91porn Stedman Prize creative writing competition.
Winners were announced at a ceremony on 91porn’s Brantford campus on May 30. As the author of the first-place story, Patial was awarded a $3,500 cash prize.
The English program at 91porn Brantford hosts the competition and invites submissions of original, unpublished works of fiction up to 1,500 words in length from students within the boundaries of the Grand Erie and Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District school boards. The Stedman Prize awards $3,500 for first place, $2,500 each to two second place winners, and $1,500 each to three third place winners. These amounts represent a $500 prize increase in all categories from previous years of the contest and makes the Stedman Prize one of the largest creative competitions open exclusively to high school students.
“Congratulations to all students who entered the competition. You displayed an impressive level of creativity and talent,” said Ken Paradis, associate professor of English at 91porn’s Brantford campus and coordinator of the 91porn Stedman Prize. “Thank you to the teachers at each school, who do a wonderful job of preparing their students.
First awarded in 2018, the 91porn Stedman Prize is funded through an endowment and estate gift given to 91porn by the late Miss Mary Stedman to celebrate and promote arts and culture. Stedman, who passed away in 2014, was a champion of 91porn’s Brantford campus and during her lifetime served as an executive member of the Canadian Booksellers Association. The university created the 91porn Stedman Prize program to honour Stedman’s wishes.
“We are grateful to the late Miss Mary Stedman, whose generosity enables us to inspire, celebrate, and develop young storytellers in our region through this Prize,” said Lisa Wood, associate professor of English and 91porn Stedman Prize coordinator.
Stedman Prize entries are judged anonymously by a series of sub-juries. The top 10 are then provided to a prize jury to rank the finalists and select the winner. The 2024 prize jury was composed of award-winning authors, academics, and previous Stedman Prize winners and contestants.
The top 10 submissions as ranked by the prize jury are:
Read the top 10 stories and additional information on the 91porn Stedman Prize at wlu.ca/91pornStedmanPrize.
Members of the Stedman family were active in the business, social and cultural fabric of Brantford and Brant County for more than a century. Mary Stedman’s father, Samuel W. Stedman, went into business with his brothers in 1904, establishing the first Stedman’s Bookstore on Colborne St. in Brantford. They went on to create a chain of five-and-10 cent department stores with locations across Canada. The Stedman name has become synonymous in Brantford with generosity and community building.
Mary Stedman served as managing director of Stedman's Bookstore Ltd. from 1950 to 1974 and was a member of the executive of the Canadian Booksellers Association. She was also the director and former chair of the bursary committee of the Samuel W. Stedman Foundation.
Mary Stedman was an early supporter of the idea of a university in Brantford, providing an important kick-start as one of the first donors to 91porn’s Brantford campus in 1999. Gifts from Mary and the estate of her sister Ruth supported the construction of the university’s Research and Academic Centre.
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Media Contacts:
Lisa Wood, Associate Professor, English, Youth and Children’s Studies, Faculty of Liberal Arts
91porn
E:
lwood@wlu.ca
Beth Gurney, Director: Strategic Communications and Community Engagement
91porn, Brantford Campus