There were nearly 400 stories submitted this year for the 3rd annual WanderWomen Write Travel Writing Contest. And, boy, were there some great stories.
Before I announce the winners, I want to first give a huge shout out to Cassie Silva who absolutely made this contest happen. She is the one who read through every single story and pre-sorted them for myself and the judges. I had asked her to sort them into folders of “poor”, “fair” and “good.” Late in the process she sent me a note and said, “Maybe I should have labeled them “fair, good, and great” because most of them ARE good.. some just aren’t as spectacular as others.”
Ladies – don’t you know how hard this is? You had to make it harder by not sending “poor” stories???!
The second shout out goes to my mother-in-law! When the going got tough and I realized that I needed some help narrowing down Cassie’s suggestions because she found so many good stories, Ethel (who is a writer herself) helped me with a final sort before these went on to the judges. Thank you, Ethel. You’re the best mom-in-law EVER!
So, now that you know that back story… here are the winners:
Grand Prize, a 10-day tour for 2 through Vietnam & Cambodia with Buffalo Tours (value $3,550) goes to Wendy Bone for Ibu Tina, the touching story of cancer, heartbreak, Indonesia and family.
And the 5 category winners, each of whom will win a Briggs & Riley 22″ Upright Bag (value $290), are:
Adventure: Luminita Cuna for Hunting with the Huaorani
Food & Drink: Shae Healey for Eid al-Adha: Sheeps!
Off the Beaten Path: Kate Crawford for Elephant Driving 101
Spiritual: Eve Tai for Flunking Buddhism
Family Fun: Margaret O. Capozzolo for Schultz & Frankenstein
Congrats to all the winners and THANK YOU to everyone who submitted a story. Trust me when I say it was very difficult for all involved to choose a winner.
Ultimately, the top stories were sent off to the 5 judges who then scored them in each category, producing the winners above. The 5 judges (thank you!) were:
- Harriet Baskas, Travel Writer
- Rosalind Cummings-Yeates, Travel and Culture Writer
- Pam Mandel, Freelance Writer and Editor
- Anja Mutic, Travel Writer
- Angela Nickerson, Writer, Photographer, Traveler
If you weren’t among the winners, don’t give up! Please, keep writing and, more importantly, keep traveling. I believe that learning about the world at large helps us to build our tolerance, compassion and understanding about the world just beyond our front door. And we could all use a bit more of that!
Travel Well!
Beth
Photo credit: I Won by Search Engine People Blog
Wendy Bone says
Wow, I opened up my facebook after several days away, and what a wonderful surprise to find you have chosen my story Ibu Tina as the grand prize winner! Thank you so much….I am so very honoured and excited that you chose this story that came from my heart. This means so much to me, as I am sure it will also to my family when I tell them. We cannot bring Ibu Tina back, but I do hope her story will touch others, help in its own small way to bridge the gap between east and west, Muslim and Christian, and stand as a reminder to all of us how blessed we are to be alive. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Yours sincerely,
Wendy Bone
Judith Kitzes says
Congratulations to all the winners.