What inspired your winning piece? What did the writing process look like?

In 2020, I began my MFA in creative writing at University of British Columbia. It was during the Pandemic and almost everything was closed for a long stretch so I had plenty of time at home in my personal library for reading and writing. I was also writing and workshopping a lot of short fiction in my courses, freewriting various exploratory scenes that occurred to me, and beginning to think about what ideas were compelling enough to turn into fiction that might be included in my thesis collection. Something that genuinely captivated my attention in a time of few external inputs was the fact that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were being postponed. I spent a few years teaching in Tokyo, and I had also been a wrestling coach in Calgary early in my teaching career. A very amateur one, I should add! My co-coaches were talented international competitors. I was the female sidekick. Vivid impressions from my time living and working in both places remain with me today.

I could picture the shock, confusion, and devastation of athletes who’ve trained for years to peak at the ideal time for the Olympics suddenly being isolated at home, deprived of team and coach. I threw an extra-punishing quarantine situation at my Canadian protagonist, who has the added indignity of living and training isolated in her grubby garage to avoid contamination before selection camp. Meanwhile, I have family living in Japan who shared that people in Tokyo were growing less enchanted with the idea of the Olympics, and in the Covid glare, with delays, vaccine rollout confusion, and added expenses, the Games had lost their lustre. There were even protests. These bits and pieces all mingled together for awhile, and I actually created a tiny 100-word flash piece about this concept as a creative constraint challenge, before deciding to try and tell it as a dual perspective short story from both an athlete on hold’s perspective as well as a protester of the games in Tokyo. I didn’t feel I could inhabit the Japanese perspective personally, so I narrated that POV through an American step-sister because I believed it was an essential part of the story. This piece went through several drafts before I shared it with my final summer fiction intensive class taught by Alix Ohlin. I revised it extensively with my thesis advisor, John Vigna, and remember covering my walls with colour-coded scene sticky notes and later physically cutting and pasting the two POVs in long artsy-craftsy poster-size strips and rearranging and trimming the text multiple times as I worked to balance the two perspectives effectively and not have one overpower the other. A significant challenge was deciding on the ending—which went through several versions. I knew I had to have the two main characters meet at the Olympics, but the scope and circumstances had to come together in a way that felt right without being overwrought. (Or over writ!) The original story was probably closer to 6000 words and now it comes in just under 5000.

What were some of the factors that influenced you to submit to our Festival?

A year ago, in February, I had a long weekend vacation in New Orleans, but due to some very intense Canadian snowstorms and my local airport shutting down, I ended up getting ‘stuck’ in New Orleans for an extra 3 days—solo. As I wandered around town, visiting wonderful places I’d never been, I took in a more creative side of the city, that felt less touristy, more artistic, authentic and artisanal. I had submitted a different story once before to the TWFest contest, and have enjoyed Tennessee Williams’ plays, but this concentrated gift of extra time in the city reminded me of the opportunity to submit again, and when the deadline rolled around, I was ready and thought New Orleans and this contest might just be the right fit for “Fold Backwards.”

Describe the moment when you found out you were the winner!

The moment I learned I was the fiction winner is a special memory. I’m a teacher and was attending an alumni event with some of my teacher friends, where we travel by minibus to a university a few hours away and have a pub night with our former students who are now legal adults! It was already a fun reunion, and our principal had shared with a few in the group that I was a finalist for this contest, so I’d answered some questions, while reminding everyone that it was a very long shot, since I’d heard there were about 1000 entries. When we were getting ready to leave the event, I was checking my phone and gasped out loud when I saw what looked like a congratulatory email. I couldn’t read it because my hand was shaking with disbelief, so I handed my phone to a close friend and colleague who read the message out loud, confirming I had won. The celebration was immediately elevated and on the way home, my colleagues made me read the entire story out loud to them on our minibus ride home. A little intimidating, but very sweet and validating.

What were some of your favorite memories from attending the Festival? 

I absolutely loved the Hotel Monteleone. The literary history, the geographical landmark quality, the rooftop pool, the memorable Carousel Bar and the excellent restaurant. It was wonderful to stay at the festival hotel and be able to attend all the events with our VIP passes. The mix of readings, panels, craft classes, walking tours, and theatre and social events was so enjoyable. I felt warmly welcomed by the Festival Staff and so supported by contest coordinator, Johanna Ziegler. I also truly appreciated meeting and spending some time with the very short fiction winner, Té V. Smith, and the highlight of doing a public reading with him and the poetry and one-act play winners on the final day of the festival is a memory I will cherish.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on revisions of a novel manuscript that has been in progress for a few years, but that I’m now finally able to prioritize. I’m also curating and editing a collection of short fiction from my numerous stories, some of which have now been published and/or won or been finalists in a range of contests. I’ll be attending Sage Hill’s Fiction Writing residency in Saskatchewan in July to give some focused and sustained attention to my novel revisions.

 

Future publishing updates can be found at www.tenalaing.com.