There were story ideas on the road to Swift Current last week. As I drove there from Saskatoon to speak to a class about news writing, I passed loaded hay trucks heading south and empty cattle liners heading north. I saw deer and evidence of earlier vehicle-deer collisions. I saw a developing golf course and a much-improved highway.
With all that material, and attendant questions about the why and how of these situations, how odd that as I stood in front of an 11-person creative writing class, all thoughts about news flew out of my head.
Read Also
Agriculture needs to prepare for government spending cuts
As government makes necessary cuts to spending, what can be reduced or restructured in the budgets for agriculture?
Fortunately, there were no hecklers in this group of adults intent on exploring various genres of writing. The instructor, Madelon Smid, is an author and freelance writer who is guiding students as they discover their creative muse.
My part in Smid’s class was to explain news writing as a potential writing outlet. If my enthusiasm for the topic successfully outweighed my stage fright, the Producer might gain some freelance writers in the Swift Current region.
Besides the chance to forgo office jockey duties, last week brought additional good news in the form of the Canadian Farm Writers Federation annual writing awards. These are usually handed out during the annual convention, but this year the horror of Sept. 11 and aftermath forced its cancellation.
The awards were thus presented in the “virtual” medium of the internet.
Producer staffers won seven awards this year. Ron Lyseng of Farming magazine won the gold award for technical feature, for a story on used combine parts.
Former Winnipeg bureau
markets staffer Roberta Rampton won the gold award for press feature, for a report on the future of farming. Calgary bureau
news reporter Barbara Duckworth won bronze in the same category for a report on the aftermath of mad cow disease in the United Kingdom.
Camrose bureau
news reporter Mary MacArthur won silver in the weekly press reporting category, for a feature on Brooks, Alta., and the effects of having a large beef packing plant within its limits.
Paul Yanko, who handles editorial content on www.producer.com, won the silver award in the website category.
Rounding out the seven, an editorial about Saskatchewan’s land ownership rules won gold for press editorial, and yours truly, faithful notebook columnist, won bronze in the press column category for an item about a protective cow.
