393: 10
Regular readers of this blog may already know the news, but a local paper has just run the following story, allegedly written by Gary Ferguson:
The Montana Festival of the Book has announced that John Clayton has won its 2003 "Happy Tales" literary contest. The award includes a $300 honorarium and the prestigious Nahum Tate Cup.
With a philosophy of "Face it: even the greatest of authors and their works might have benefited from a more positive outlook," the Happy Tales contest asks writers to rewrite a classic work of literature with a happier ending. Clayton's entry, "Montana 1948-50," spoofed Larry Watson's novel Montana 1948 by having a feel-good community improvement effort called "The Montana Study" put on a pageant that conquered racial tensions in the small town.
Festival Director Mark Sherouse noted that the contest involved two "firsts." For the first time, the author being parodied was in the audience at the Festival -- Watson joins the likes of William Shakespeare, Norman Maclean, and Ernest Hemingway. ("I'm eager to see what you did," he told Clayton. "I had trouble with the ending myself.")
Also for the first time a writer has won the award more than once -- Clayton also won the 2001 contest with "A Rivet Runs Through It." Clayton said he was extremely proud to have achieved this status. "I like to use the phrase, 'unprecedented in Montana literary history,'" he said.
Nahum Tate was an English poet who in 1869 rewrote Shakespeare's King Lear with a happier ending. Tate's version replaced Shakespeare's on the English stage for over 150 years. Clayton said both his Nahum Tate Cups have a sticker on the bottom reading "393: 10," but said he doesn't know the significance of the numbers.
Clayton said he loved the voice in Watson's novel, and when he was casting about for ideas, he saw the title and remembered that the year coincided with The Montana Study, a real-life initiative that he had read about in a book called Small Town Renaissance. "This is one of the funnest things I do all year," he said. "Next year I'm gunning for the hat trick!"
For more information, visit the Festival's website, www.bookfest-mt.org, or Clayton's website, www.johnclaytonbooks.com.
What do YOU think? Drop a line to info@johnclaytonbooks.com. To receive these posts via email, write to johnclaytonoutreach-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. (You need not put any text in the message.)
The Montana Festival of the Book has announced that John Clayton has won its 2003 "Happy Tales" literary contest. The award includes a $300 honorarium and the prestigious Nahum Tate Cup.
With a philosophy of "Face it: even the greatest of authors and their works might have benefited from a more positive outlook," the Happy Tales contest asks writers to rewrite a classic work of literature with a happier ending. Clayton's entry, "Montana 1948-50," spoofed Larry Watson's novel Montana 1948 by having a feel-good community improvement effort called "The Montana Study" put on a pageant that conquered racial tensions in the small town.
Festival Director Mark Sherouse noted that the contest involved two "firsts." For the first time, the author being parodied was in the audience at the Festival -- Watson joins the likes of William Shakespeare, Norman Maclean, and Ernest Hemingway. ("I'm eager to see what you did," he told Clayton. "I had trouble with the ending myself.")
Also for the first time a writer has won the award more than once -- Clayton also won the 2001 contest with "A Rivet Runs Through It." Clayton said he was extremely proud to have achieved this status. "I like to use the phrase, 'unprecedented in Montana literary history,'" he said.
Nahum Tate was an English poet who in 1869 rewrote Shakespeare's King Lear with a happier ending. Tate's version replaced Shakespeare's on the English stage for over 150 years. Clayton said both his Nahum Tate Cups have a sticker on the bottom reading "393: 10," but said he doesn't know the significance of the numbers.
Clayton said he loved the voice in Watson's novel, and when he was casting about for ideas, he saw the title and remembered that the year coincided with The Montana Study, a real-life initiative that he had read about in a book called Small Town Renaissance. "This is one of the funnest things I do all year," he said. "Next year I'm gunning for the hat trick!"
For more information, visit the Festival's website, www.bookfest-mt.org, or Clayton's website, www.johnclaytonbooks.com.
What do YOU think? Drop a line to info@johnclaytonbooks.com. To receive these posts via email, write to johnclaytonoutreach-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. (You need not put any text in the message.)
