We're excited to announce that Luanne Gauvreau is the winner of our 2024 Fiction Contest and $2000 prize! Her story "Roses for Bodies" will be featured in the upcoming Winter issue of The Fiddlehead (FH 302).
Luanne Gauvreau lives in Ottawa where she is a writer and editor, in body and spirit. “Roses for Bodies” is drawn from a novel in progress exploring the nature of work and art in a world so in need of real action.
"At its heart, “Roses for Bodies” is a journey. Of Max, a painter who travels from Amsterdam to Florence to learn about art, and from Florence to Navata Mare to become transformed from a well-meaning but selfish and impatient man to one with greater compassion for humanity and a better understanding of his own work. Of the migrants who come from countries torn apart by conflict and poverty to what they hope will be a better life in Europe. And of the reader, who comes with Max into a new world where the sea is not simply a shining expanse of colour and movement waiting to be painted, but a vehicle that transports people from shore to shore as often as it consumes them. Standing on the beach after the landing of a refugee family, Max asks, “But what does an artist paint, if not the light?”
This is what “Roses for Bodies” does — it paints a story layered, shaded and textured with rich, supple language; one that brings us into the light. This is a gorgeous and fresh telling of a timely and important message that the world needs to hear. Of Max, the writer assures us, “He will change.” And as with all good writing, when we read it, we too are changed."
— Zilla Jones, 2024 Fiction Contest Judge
Thank you to all who entered the fiction contest and congratulations to the fifteen finalists. And thanks again to our judge, Zilla Jones!
