NEWS
Pittsburgh librarian wins ninth biennial Fiction Contest
Posted: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 4:11 PM
MARA DABRISHUS and FATE
by Tom Law
Mara Dabrishus, a reference librarian at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and a librarian at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, put lasting images from a childhood spent following racing to good use and beat out an award-laden field of finalists to win the ninth biennial THOROUGHBRED TIMES Fiction Contest in her first attempt.
Dabrishus’ story “Whirlaway” was selected as the best of the 62 stories submitted for the contest. Dabrishus, whose work begins on the next page, earns $600 for winning the 2010 contest.
Dabrishus beat out a stellar group of finalists to win this year, including the first three finishers from the 2008 contest plus two previous winners of the Fiction Contest.
The runner-up in 2010 is Peggy Davis, who took home top honors in 2008 for her work “The Song.” Davis, a veteran racing official who works a variety of positions from early May to early September at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota, earns $300 for “The Fire Never Dies,” which will appear in the March 30 issue of THOROUGHBRED TIMES.
The third-place finisher this year is another newcomer to the contest in Keith Kohnhorst, who grew up attending the races at Santa Anita Park not far from his hometown of Sunland, California. Kohnhorst earns $200 for “Chalk Bettor,” which will be published in the April 17 issue of THOROUGHBRED TIMES.
December 31 was the deadline to submit entries for the 2010 competition, which attracted stories from 25 states, two Canadian provinces, Australia, Greece, Rwanda, and Tasmania. Entries were limited to 5,000 words and must have pertained to an aspect of the Thoroughbred industry.
Members of the THOROUGHBRED TIMES editorial staff narrowed the entries to 16 semifinalists for final review and that group was narrowed down to 11 finalists by the judges:
• Mark Simon, president and editor of THOROUGHBRED TIMES and co-founder of the contest with his wife, Mary Simon;
• Ed DeRosa, news editor of THOROUGHBRED TIMES and winner of the 2005 Bill Leggett Breeders’ Cup Writing Award;
• Frank Angst, senior writer of THOROUGHBRED TIMES, winner of an American Horse Publications Award in 2005 for news reporting, and author of a 2008 children’s book on Cincinnati Bengals wide receive Chad Johnson; and
• Kelly McAninch, copy editor of THOROUGHBRED TIMES and part-time instructor for the University of Kentucky’s Department of Communications.
Other authors represented by contest finalists are Ed Donnally, Richard Goldberg, Alan P. Henry, Heather Hoffman, Robert Hurt, MaryAnn Myers, Janell Oliver, and Milton Toby. Honorable mention designations were awarded to those stories that garnered at least one top-five vote.
To read this year’s winning story, click here.
For contest rules, click here.
Tom Law is managing editor of Thoroughbred Times
You can read each of the previous winning stories by clicking on the link below:
2010 winner: Whirlaway, by Mara Dabrishus
2008 Winner: The Song, by Peggy Davis
2006 Winner: Root Doctor, by Scott T. Hutchison
2004 Winner: Arlen Gone, by Kevin Harrington
2002 Winner: It Can Happen Here, by Catherine Dupree
2000 Winner: The Painting, by Alan P. Henry
1998 Winner: Teaser, by Scott T. Hutchison
1996 Winner: The Passing of the Torch, by Avalyn Hunter
1993 Winner: The Hanging in the Foaling Barn, by Susan Starr Richards
