The 2017 Telescope Awards and Readings ceremony took place at Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre last December. With readings by participants and images created in our illustration workshops showing on screens at the ceremony, the event was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

The Annual Telescope Writing Awards gives people with disabilities the opportunity to express themselves through stories and writing, and includes workshops with experienced authors and one-one-one mentorships.

New categories have been introduced over time as Telescope has developed and this year, due to popular demand, an exciting new category for graphic novels/comics/zines will be added. Watch this space!

2017 Telescope Writing Awards winners

Fiction

1st Place: Vincenzo Berlinghieri – Don Policarpio
2nd Place: Jean Winter – The Red Cloud
3rd Place: Daniel Kendell – McKinley
Commended: Sharon Creasey – Sharon’s Very Special Inspirational Fairytale Adventure

Non-Fiction

1st Place: June Smith – It All Started at My Young Daughter’s Second Date with Steve
2nd Place: Vincenzo Berlinghieri – Life’s Wonders
3rd Place: Olga van Wageningen – Olga’s Story

Poetry

1st Place: Wendy Adhofer – Syllables
2nd Place: Ben Winwood – Can you Feel Your Legs Tonight?
3rd Place: Kerrie Sculac – The Swordsmen

Group Writing

Callum Lydiard, Sammy Taylor, Jamieson Whitely & Anna Te – Zombie Vomit Gang
Tim Rodway & Moira Tokell – Movie Review

Young People’s Writing

Angie Motherwell – My Dog Muggle

Syllables – By Wendy Adhofer

Poetry 1st Place winner

Fricatives, is King – living in Esking!

I keep hollering, aloud – as you Kings must meet and greet.

King Osking and all his fair men, keep asking for King Vowel and Kind Consonant,

Plot to minimize the alphabet’s strengths and weaknesses;

King Consonant will be there, along with Duke Five Vowels (for minimal reasons), with consent… lest of course, without a due there will be no women sent to this event.

Four silent letters are supposed to be in a queue,

So without a due,

I send this poem to you.

Feature image: Daniel Kendell reading his entry for Fiction, McKinley.