Banjo Writing Award short story in CWD

The winning short story in the 2008 Banjo Paterson Writing Awards "Exposure" by Margaret Betts of VIC, has been published in today's Central Western Daily (CWD) on page 9 and you can also read it, along with other winning entries, on the Central West Libraries website Reading and Writing page. This story stayed with the judges for a long time afterwards - its evocation of a boy running away to sea and the tragic death of the boy's father following his return. This story is beautifully written, building up the atmosphere of the piece with a skilled control of language and metaphor. The descriptions of the natural world are original and enchanting, emotionally charging the landscape with a sense of dread and foreboding. From details of seaweed, clouds, damaged crabs and wind, to the domestic descriptions of a bed stripped bare – exposing its naked base – an 'iron black skeleton' – this is first class writing. Catch up with the winners of the Children's Writing Section featured in the CWD today too on page 5: http://orange.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/banjo-would-notice-stories-made-of-the-write-stuff/793522.aspx