2011 Participant Receives 1st Prize!

Jim Herod has received notice that a short story he wrote won first prize in the category of fiction at the 2011 Alabama Writers’ Conclave. Herod’s 2500 word story titled “Hear What I See” was conceived from his experiences in Kenya last October. Marian Lewis, AWC contest chairperson, told Jim Herod, “Your descriptions and the presentation of your story are so rich, I almost felt as if I were there. You capture the beauty of the language and the harshness of the land and you make it come alive. To say that I enjoyed reading the story is an understatement.”

The Alabama Writers’ Conclave is one of the oldest continuing writers' organizations in the United States. It attracts writers and contest participants from all across the United States. In fact, writers from at least fourteen states were represented in the contests.

Herod’s story was written in first person from the perspective of a Maasai mystic whose English name is I See. In Swahili, his name is Kunoa. Kunoa sees what is to be. He is called to translate for two Americans who have been kidnapped by Somalian bandits. In this story, the culture, environment, and struggle for survival by the Maasai tribesmen is portrayed, and even Kunoa finds a surprise.

The URL for AWC is http://www.alabamawritersconclave.org/