In its second virtual edition, the Muskoka Novel Marathon has achieved a very respectable total of more than $11,000 in fundraising for literacy.
The participants came together Saturday via Zoom to celebrate some awards and to discuss future events.
The 2021 top fundraiser and winner of the Remmington Award was Krystyne Taylor-Smith. This talented participant and committee member also won the Techie Award for her efforts in making the online delivery possible and accessible to all the registered writers.
There are two trophies often awarded to the same writer, and for good reason: the Bum in Chair Award (to the writer who seemed to be glued to their chair for the duration of the 72-hour event) and the Most Prolific Award (to the writer with the highest page or word count) were given to Sharon Frayne.
Jennifer Turney was the recipient of the Spirit Award for her often candid, one-take video efforts on social media to keep participants informed of events leading up to and during the event and fundraising encouragement.
The Rookie Award went to Maryanne Mason, whose attendance and enthusiasm during the marathon was not missed by the other writers.
As in past years, writers have the chance to compete for the title of Best Manuscript in the Adult and Young Adult categories. This year saw some fierce competition for the chance to skip the slush pile and present their story to a publisher for review.
This year’s winners were:
Best Manuscript (Adult): Benjamin Glatt, The Life of Joshua
Honourable Mention: Lois Ward, The Salt Road
Best Manuscript (Young Adult): Sarah El Sioufi, Reading bw the lines
Muskoka Novel Marathon celebrated its 20th anniversary this year and has to date raised more than $240,000 for adult literacy programming in Muskoka through the YMCA.
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