Plaid shirted old men harnessed in suspenders lean forward , lurch with the lunge of muscled ponies pulling stone boats in the raked dirt arena . They mouth the simple words a pony knows . Unweighted memories are skidded easily to the jingling tune of a doubletree .
D . Slayton Avery is a writer whose earliest successes were with the WCAX contests while a student at Woodbury Elementary School and Hazen Union High School . She grew up in the same area of Vermont as seven generations of her ancestors . Though much of her adult life was spent teaching out of state , she retired , returned , and can state emphatically and unequivocally , “ There ’ s no place like home .”
VT WRITER ' S PRIZE WINNERS 2024
PETER HUNTOON • PETERHUNTOON . COM
At the Fair by D . Slayton Avery ( Poetry Winner )
Plaid shirted old men harnessed in suspenders lean forward , lurch with the lunge of muscled ponies pulling stone boats in the raked dirt arena . They mouth the simple words a pony knows . Unweighted memories are skidded easily to the jingling tune of a doubletree .
Carol Lang-Godin
D . Slayton Avery is a writer whose earliest successes were with the WCAX contests while a student at Woodbury Elementary School and Hazen Union High School . She grew up in the same area of Vermont as seven generations of her ancestors . Though much of her adult life was spent teaching out of state , she retired , returned , and can state emphatically and unequivocally , “ There ’ s no place like home .”
The Vermont Writer ’ s Prize is a collaboration between Green Mountain Power and Vermont Magazine . It was created in 1989 as a way to celebrate Vermont , writing , and to honor Ralph Nading Hill , Jr ., a Vermont historian , author , and long-time GMP Board member . The contest is open to all Vermont residents , including seasonal and college students , and you can be a professional or amateur writer .