Pusanweb Writing Contest
2002 -- Prizewinners and Comments
Summary
'Every pot has a lid'. That old proverb is usually uttered by forlorn mothers trying to marry off their children. From the voting patterns in this writing contest, it seems that every story and poem also has admirers. So are you unsure of your soulmate? Here is a new use for our writing contest : wavering lovers can write separate judgements on a bunch of Pusanweb stories to see if their destinies are really entwined, or just entangled... Anyway, whoever runs off with the prizes below, you other writers out there need not feel despondent. Not only did the public voters spread their favours around, the official judges also diverged in their tastes. Stuff that I thought was awful, others found delicious, and vice versa. There is a lesson in democracy here. For this reason I have decided to also list the individual judgements below, together with comments which may inform, soothe, or enrage various writers.
Recall that the judging was : 50% - Online Voting + 50% - Pusanweb Writing Panel
Our scrutineer, backroom guardian angel and grey eminence was Pusanweb's general manager, Jeff Lebow. To Jeff, special thanks for a job well and fairly done. I must also thank the other three judges for freely accepting the long slog of studying every submitted piece and giving a considered opinion.
Thor May (editor)
Busan, 30 December 2002
Prizes
First prize winners in each category will receive 50,000 won.
Second
prize winners in each category will receive 20,000 won.
Third
Place has no prize, but receives a special mention below
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Results
1. Fiction
2. Non-fiction
( two entries received equal
first scores. Pusanweb will divide
the total of first and second cash prizes between them)
3.
Poetry
4. Non-native
Speaker
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General
Comments
The
contributions overall to Pusanweb Writing Contest 2002 (as distinct from
the winners alone) reflected fairly clearly the preoccupations of
Pusanweb's main clientele - expatriate English teachers working in Korea.
Not surprisingly, many of the stories also resonated with the concerns of
their dominant origins, age and gender - notably young(ish) North American
men and their Korean girls (real or imagined). Booze and hanging out in
nightclubs also set a frequent background. Within these limitations there
were some quite powerful stories, and the readers responded accordingly.
Of course, there were other themes too, and these are well-represented in
the winner's lists. Sari Fordham's charming and funny story offered a
welcome feminine perspective. Ben Eller's grim elegy faced us with
uncomfortable questions about real identity and the identikit caricatures
imposed by national ideologies. Poetry, wandering as it does between
music, compressed emotions and reflective thought, can be intensely
revealing about both authors and self-selected readers. You can love or
loath particular poems, and the spread in this contest offered plenty of
choice. I was frankly astonished by some of the preferences, then
chastened by my own surprise; (second-guessing the popular will is a
perilous affair). The nonnative speaker section, with only three entries,
is a curt reminder that we have barely touched the lives of 48 million
South Koreans, as well as tens of thousands of other foreign nationals in
the country. We have work ahead of us to make that link through Pusanweb's
many gateways.
Individual selections by
the Judging Panel, together with their comments
1. Lavinia Spalding
Fiction 1st Place:Broken
Umbrellas
Fiction - 2nd Place: Three Girls, Three
Days
Fiction 3rd Place: Captain Q
Non Fiction 1st Place:
Exposed
Non Fiction 2nd Place: Mother-in-law
Diaries
Non Fiction 3rd Place: Still
Poetry - 1st Place: Travels, an elegy for
Evan Carl Hunsicker
Poetry 2nd Place: Texas
Street
Poetry 3rd Place: told to
love
Non Native Speaker 1st Place: The Boy has
Soul Blisters
Non Native Speaker - 2nd Place:
Untitled
Non Native Speaker - 3rd Place: The Last
Night in Paris
2. Dinah Brown
Fiction 1st Place: The Monk Who Never
Sleeps
Fiction 1st Place Comments: A terrific
story relating to our daily existence starting from common thoughts on the
very first day to relatively common knowledge acquired over a couple of
contracts. Well written and fun!
Fiction - 2nd Place: The Dead
Rat
Fiction - 2nd Place Comments: I really
like this one. I feel sorry for Fugly, though I may still shriek
next time I see a rat on my doorstep. Articulate and
fluid.
Fiction 3rd Place: The Water Between the
Fish
Fiction - 3rd Place Comments: An
extraordinary description of all the little things we bypass in
Korea. A little jumbled, but considering the subject, it goes with
the territory.
Non Fiction 1st Place: Geoje-do, Part
7
Non Fiction 1st Place Comments: A great
interpretation evoking visual images. A great account of Korean
adventure mixed with misunderstandings and frustrations.
Non Fiction 2nd Place: The
Subway
Non Fiction 2nd Place Comments: Humorous
account of the typical weirdness one may find underground.
Non Fiction 3rd Place: Mother-in-law
Diaries
Non Fiction 3rd Place Comments: A comical
insight on the life of a western guy living with his Korean mother-in-law.
I can't even imagine, but the story sure helps
Poetry - 1st Place: Winter's
Growth
Poetry 1st Place Comments: Great imagery
use in the stark contrasts in the Korean environment, evocative feelings
of frustration with his/her situation and an interesting use of irony in
the purpose of teaching English Conversation. Well written and
interesting.
Poetry 2nd Place: Sitting Here
Thinking
Poetry 2nd Place Comments: Eloquent word
play used to evoke the feelings and thoughts many of us have perhaps
thought off handedly while people watching. Great work!
Poetry 3rd Place: The Budding of a
Christmas Tree
Poetry 3rd Place Comments: Cross cultural
with a high moral content. An easily read holiday fable.
Non Native Speaker 1st Place: The Boy has
Soul Blisters
Non Native Speaker 1st Place Comments:
Wonderfully descriptive idea of the ambivalence he feels about his
military service. Insightful feelings of confusion and
loneliness. Very well written.
Non Native Speaker - 2nd Place:
Beomosa
Non Native Speaker 2nd Place Comments:
This person should write for Lonely Planet. The writer has an
incredible eye for detail and is very well written. Great
piece!
Non Native Speaker - 3rd Place: The Last
Night in Paris
Non Native Speaker 3rd Place Comments:
Certainly a terrible experience for anyone which was well written. A
good thing to keep in mind for anyone who likes to travel.
3. Rolf Potts
Fiction 1st Place: Three Girls, Three
Days
Fiction 1st Place Comments: Fiction, in
my opinion, featured far and away the best writing quality of the
contest. Very evocative of life as a teacher in Pusan, and it really
took me back. These top three picks are really interchangeably
excellent, and I picked "Three Girls" because it was a tighter story with
very well-drawn characters. "Obstacles" actually had a better ending, but
was a bit long. Well well observed, though. As was "The Monk
Who Never Sleeps". If it was possible, I'd give a three-way tie for first,
and bring in a few more stories as runners-up.
Fiction - 2nd Place:
Obstacles
Fiction 3rd Place: The Monk Who Never
Sleeps
Non Fiction 1st Place: Mother-in-law
Diaries
Non-fiction Comment : Non-fiction was a
bit spottier (than fiction), but the top three stood out, in my opinion,
and "Mother-in-law Diaries" was easily the best.
Non Fiction 2nd Place: Still
Non Fiction 3rd Place:
Exposed
Poetry - 1st Place: Christmas Journal
1996
Poetry Comment:: Poetry was kind of
uneven in style (as poetry anywhere tends to be), so I chose on the basis
of ideas and execution.
Poetry 2nd Place: Winter's
Growth
Poetry 3rd Place: Travels, an elegy for
Evan Carl Hunsicker
Non Native Speaker 1st Place: The Boy has
Soul Blisters
Non Native Speaker Comments:
Nonnative Speaker essays were kind of uninspired, though the spunkiness of
"The Boy Has Soul Blisters" made it an easy winner for me.
Non Native Speaker 2nd Place:
Beomosa
Non Native Speaker 3rd Place: The Last
Night in Paris
4. Thor May
Fiction 1st Place:Boom Boom in
Busan
Fiction 1st Place Comments:
Superbly developed and controlled fiction (shades of Damon Runyon). The
writer has woven an ironic, gritty tale around a bunch of essentially
unlikeable characters. Korea - a certain kind of Korea - is an effective
backdrop without smothering the storytelling.
Fiction - 2nd Place: Broken
Umbrellas
Fiction - 2nd Place Comments: Sensitive,
surreal, evocative of a particular Korea, more persuasive than the popular
Texas Street type themes; well written.
Fiction 3rd Place: Three Girls, Three
Days
Fiction - 3rd Place Comments: Beautifully
controlled storyline with skilled switching between scenes. Convincing
account of women competing for a man: in this case a young north American
male in the playground of South Korea. I find myself disliking the guy,
who doesn't seem to have a flicker of self-doubt, but that's
personal..
Non Fiction 1st Place:
Exposed
Non Fiction 1st Place Comments: Funny,
beautifully written across several timelines; informative about Korea. The
feminine perspective is refreshing amongst this group of contest
stories.
Non Fiction 2nd Place: Mother-in-law
Diaries
Non Fiction 2nd Place Comments: Well
written reflective prose, extremely evocative and informative about living
'Korean style', though one suspects a hint of over-dramatization at
times.
Non Fiction 3rd Place: Geoje-do, Part
7
Non Fiction 3rd Place Comments: The three
submitted pieces by this writer are good-humoured and well controlled.
They ring true about an expatriate teacher's encounter with a new and
puzzling world, while being genuinely informative about Korea
Poetry - 1st Place: Travels, an elegy for
Evan Carl Hunsicker
Poetry 1st Place Comments: Potent --
something worth saying, well said in clipped syllables
Poetry 2nd Place: Kumjeong Mountain at
Daybreak
Poetry 2nd Place Comments: Professional
control. The space between the thoughts mirrors the clear light of early
morning
Poetry 3rd Place: Winter's
Growth
Poetry 3rd Place Comments: Not
technically adept as poetry, or even prose-verse, but a lot of
chromatic content, progression, and development of an idea relevant to
Korea
** Special Comment** : A Life Spent
Running From Blue by BWK : For at least some of us sensitive to the rhythms of
language, this strange poem has enormous energy, even though its
denotative meaning is almost impenetrable (to the point where a computer
poetry generating program could have produced some lines). Poetry is also
language, and language is tethered to meaning shared by other human
beings. When this poet is able to harness the music of the soul to worldly
meaning, the outcome could be impressive.
Non Native Speaker 1st Place: The Boy has
Soul Blisters
Non Native Speaker 1st Place Comments:
This piece has some immediacy and conviction, though it's a bit rough
around the edges;
Non Native Speaker - 2nd Place:
Beomosa
Non Native Speaker 2nd Place
Comments: A short, formal essay about a temple-turned-tourist-spot. Nicely
controlled, though slightly reminiscent of something written to "please
the teacher".
Non Native Speaker - 3rd Place: The Last
Night in Paris
Non Native Speaker 3rd Place Comments: A
fairly direct account of an experience which has obviously impressed
itself on the writer. A little more introspection on her own character in
this drama may have given the story greater depth.
General Comments by
Readers on the Stories (no
particular order)
Only a few online readers took the
opportunity to comment, so the coverage repeated here is accidental and
scattered.
The Monk Who Never
Sleeps
Fiction 1st Place B: The Monk Who Never
Sleeps
Fiction 1st Place Comments: Yo tambien
conozco un monje que no duerme.
Fiction 1st Place B: The Monk Who Never
Sleeps
Fiction 1st Place Comments: I have this
strange, unshakable feeling that I was there, really there.
Konglish Rocks!
Non Fiction 2nd Place: Konglish
Rocks!
Non Fiction 2nd Place Comments: Author
needs to work on his grammar and broaden his ideas, but otherwise the
piece was a good idea.
Three Girls, Three
Days
Fiction - 2nd Place: Three Girls, Three
Days
Fiction - 2nd Place Comments: Yo soy la
cuarta chica.
Fiction - 2nd Place: Three Girls, Three
Days
Fiction - 2nd Place Comments: I think I
dated all those girls, too.
Captain Q
Fiction 3rd Place: Captain Q
Fiction - 3rd Place Comments: I wish I
could go to a dirty bar like that here in Mexico.
Fiction 3rd Place: Captain Q
Fiction - 3rd Place Comments: I think I
met her.
Fiction - 2nd Place: Captain
Q
Fiction - 2nd Place Comments: Well
written, but there wasn't a need to explain Korean cultural details (i.e.
kimchi)
Jungang-dong
Fiction 1st Place B:
Jungang-dong
Fiction 1st Place Comments: The story was
good. I think this is what Busan is like for me too.
Fiction - 2nd Place:
Jungang-dong
Fiction - 2nd Place Comments: This is the
only other story I found enjoyable besides "70,000". The
descriptions painted a great picture in my head, were very funny at times,
and most importantly...it didn't bore me. Great story.
Fiction 1st Place B:
Jungang-dong
Fiction 1st Place Comments: Pulido is
James Joyce incarnate. This story could be in a collection called
"Busaners." The characters are stagnant, drifting, with nothing to look
forward to. i'd hate to be them. First, they go to a place designed to
overload the senses with shit to numb their desolation. Next, they ignore
the monks, despite the narrator saying "we basically know them" and
finally, the episode with the girl takes us into the body of the narrator
and we reject her right along with the narrator for a petty excuse (I
thought it would have been funny if she was there watching Rocky IV with
us and feeling so uncomfortable.) We feel the disconnectedness of the
characters, which urges us to choose the path of living without fear or
anxiety. Joyce's gives his epiphany in "A painful case," from the
Dubliners, when he says "he felt that he had been outcast from life's
feast." Pulido presents the same universal theme in 21st century
Busan.
What 70,000 won Will Get You in
Busan
Fiction 1st Place B: What 70,000 won Will
Get You in Busan
Fiction 1st Place Comments: This is the
only original story of the bunch. Great, your a foreigner in Korea
not understanding the culture. Puhleeze......and hookers are
fun!!!
Geoje-do, Part 7
Non Fiction 1st Place: Geoje-do, Part
7
Non Fiction 1st Place Comments: Hahaha.
This good story and funny. Good job.
Non Fiction 1st Place: Geoje-do, Part
7
Non Fiction 1st Place Comments: This
piece was well written and really kept me entertained. The writer
has an uncanny ability to depict life as it is in Korea without boring the
reader with worthless opinions.
The Vegetable Man
Non Fiction 2nd Place: The Vegetable
Man
Non Fiction 2nd Place Comments: Good job.
I like these story by this person.
Non Fiction 2nd Place: The Vegetable
Man
Non Fiction 2nd Place Comments: This
story just cracked me up. I like this author's lighthearted style
and the way he writes about the things that all of us expats know about
and can laugh along with.
The Subway
Non Fiction 3rd Place: The
Subway
Non Fiction 3rd Place Comments:
these r such funny stories. i really like the way he describes his small
but memorable experiences in korean life. simple yet well written. also
very witty.
A Ride Into Oblivion
Fiction - 2nd Place: A Ride Into
Oblivion
Fiction - 2nd Place Comments: Maybe this
could be my life in busan too?
Fiction 1st Place B: A Ride Into
Oblivion
Fiction 1st Place Comments: The title
obviously got my attention out of all the stories. This drew me in first.
The prose of the story was offbeat, but very well executed. I had a good
time reading it.
Mother-in-law Diaries
Non Fiction 1st Place: Mother-in-law
Diaries
Non Fiction 1st Place Comments: Wow! he
lives with his mother in law and likes it. Funny essay.
Non Fiction 1st Place: Mother-in-law
Diaries
Non Fiction 1st Place Comments: Good
portrayal of life post-fish-out-of-water.
Boom Boom in Busan
Fiction 1st Place B: Boom Boom in
Busan
Fiction 1st Place Comments: It was not
easy for me to understand this story, but I could learn many useful words
and expressions. [2nd language reader]
Still
Non Fiction 1st Place: Still
Non Fiction 1st Place Comments: Very well
worded. I felt as if I was actually seeing the story on a screen. Very
emotional. It invoked emotions through well written words. The way it was
written allowed me to want to finish until the end. The end was sad, but
well written.
The Boy has Soul
Blisters
Non Native Speaker 1st Place: The Boy has
Soul Blisters
Non Native Speaker 1st Place Comments:
For a nonnative speaker, this title drew me into the story. The writer
knows about the English language enough to use metaphors. The coherence of
thought followed throughout the writing without confusing the reader.
Winter's Growth
Poetry - 1st Place: Winter's
Growth
Poetry 1st Place Comments: This was easy.
There wasn't a lot of good poetry on the site, but this one gripped me. It
held me in awe of what was said. The choice of words were impeccable, and
allowed me to follow the poet's train of thought throughout the piece
until the very end. Well executed and worded, I thought.
The Budding of a Christmas
Tree
Poetry - 1st Place: The Budding of a
Christmas Tree
Poetry 1st Place Comments: Words! Words
are what make it. The story flows and tells a tale of child
phenomenom....that of innocence and love. Unfortunately it pervades in a
western-Christian bent but not-withstanding, the elemental truth and flow
of the story are such that they invoke sadness (for the indiginous) and
celebration (for innocence). I loved it. David Nicholishen, Albuquerque
New Mexico, USA
Poetry - 1st Place: The Budding of a
Christmas Tree
Poetry 1st Place Comments: I read it to
my daughter last night. She loved it.
Poetry - 1st Place: The Budding of a
Christmas Tree
Poetry 1st Place Comments: Delightful
meeting of cultures in many ways. Spiritual, but not adamantly
so.
A Life Spent Running From
Blue
Poetry - 1st Place: A Life Spent Running
From Blue
Poetry 1st Place Comments: I think that
this poem is amazing. This piece is full of feeling and
emotion. It is really beautiful.
Poetry - 1st Place: A Life Spent Running
From Blue
Poetry 1st Place Comments: its just a
great poem overall
Sitting Here Thinking
Poetry 2nd Place: Sitting Here
Thinking
Poetry 2nd Place Comments: Think like
this sometimes myself.
Texas Street
Poetry 3rd Place: Texas
Street
Poetry 3rd Place Comments: Can completely
emphasize
Christmas Journal
1996
Poetry - 1st Place: Christmas Journal
1996
Poetry 1st Place Comments: Well written,
but a bit like reading a newspaper.
end