Marion Agnew

I'm just home from a lovely conference of the Creative Nonfiction Collective (Society) in Victoria, British Columbia. Many congratulations to the winner of the carte blanche/CNFC competition, Kirsten Fogg! Kirsten is an expat Canadian currently living in Australia. She's at work on a project about belonging, here:  http://www.thebelongingblog.com/   I look forward to reading her essay, "Nana Technology," in an upcoming issue of carte blanche. It was really fun to have an essay on the shortlist and hear comments from competition judge Charlotte Gill  at the gala banquet. In fact, the whole conference was a really rewarding experience, and I also congratulate the people who organized such a successful event. It was great to spend time with people who write in the multifaceted part of the universe that is creative nonfiction. Throughout the days, I became increasingly comfortable saying to strangers, "where are you from?" or "what are you working ...

It's been a hectic couple of weeks. Events have followed their usual tendency to all happen at the same time. In the midst of the hubbub and hoop-de-do, Friday brought some especially nice news: carte blanche and the Creative Nonfiction Collective, by which I mean competition judge Charlotte Gill, have chosen "Schr ö dinger's Dog" for the contest short list. I think this means that in some multiverse, this essay wins! But seriously, in the particular multiverse in which I live, I also feel like a winner--grateful and happy that this work has touched readers. That's the goal! Many thanks to the contest sponsors: carte blanche and the Creative Nonfiction Collective. I know how much work it takes to run a contest, and I appreciate it very much! You can look at the official announcement here . (And remember that moose sighting? Still waiting on that million dollars.)

Because of the date, I felt the title of this post was required.  I have even MORE good news that is--no joke!--extremely pleasing. Another essay, this one called "Schrödinger's Dog," has been chosen for the long list for the Creative Nonfiction Collective/Carte Blanche contest! Yep, another essay about dogs. But different from   the one before .  The winner of the contest will be announced in late April at the CNFC conference in Victoria, BC. Victoria? In April? Yes, please. (Today's weather in this part of central Canada: ice fog. April's forecast for central Canada: mud.) And in other non-fooling news, today I saw a moose running across the ice. I've never seen a moose in the wild before, in spite of all the horror stories and road signs, and have said so aloud. Often. So, you know, I'm just putting this out there: I've never seen anyone come by and give me a million dollars, either!