Kelley Jo Burke wins City of Regina Writing Award for new play "Rigby"

For the fourth time, KJB win the CRWA--here's the judges' comments re her work in progress "Rigby." 

“Rigby,” a play about pain, disability, the measure of a life, the measure of death, is strange, sharp, and surprising. Its transformations of set and character are like live-action animation on stage as it takes a fantastical premise and renders it plausible through its assured voice and characterization. Its marvelous premise introduces the banshees who operate in the small pocket between life and death. It consistently offers wit and humour expressed through the offbeat but richly imagined characters as it philosophizes on the relationships between bodies, disability, and narratives."

The jury consisted of Canadian writers Anne Fleming and Yusuf Saadi:

Anne Fleming is the author of five books of fiction and poetry including Gay Dwarves of America, poemw, and The Goat, a novel for children. Her writing has been shortlisted for the Governor-General’s Award, the Journey Prize, the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. The Goat was named one of the ten best children’s books of the year by The Wall Street Journal and the New York Public Library. She teaches at UBC’s Okanagan Campus.

Yusuf Saadi’s first collection Pluviophile was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize. His writing has appeared in literary journals including The Malahat Review, Vallum, Brick, and Best Canadian Poetry. He currently resides in Montreal.

I will be presented with this year’s City of Regina Writing Award event on Thursday May 11, 2023 at 7:00 pm at Wascana Place (2900 Wascana Drive) in Regina, Sask. This will be a free event open to the public.