The Travelers’ Tales editors and this year’s returning judge Scott Dominic Carpenter announced the winners of the Twentieth Annual Solas Awards for Best Travel Story of the Year on March 2. Grand Prize winner Stephen Carr Hampton collected $1000 and the gold award for “Going to Water,” his moving account as a Cherokee man returning to his ancestral home in Tennessee. Gary Singh won the silver award and $750 for “Truth Is the Timeless One,” a reflective essay on the intergenerational effects of immigration. Paulette Perhach took the bronze award and $500 for “Boob Deck,” her hilarious tale of taking charge while under the leering gaze of men.
Scores of entries in 20 categories kept the judges busy. As usual, not every story that deserved an award received one. Here’s the complete list of winners. Winning stories will be posted as Editors’ Choice stories on TravelersTales.com, and may appear in future Travelers’ Tales books.
Note: Participants often wonder about how to make their writing better, and for the first time, our guest judge is willing to provide feedback on your submission. (There’s a small fee to cover his time.) For more information, go to: sdcarpenter.com.