Well Spoken Writers Club awards first short story prizes

The Well Spoken Writers Club awarded prizes in its inaugural short story contest Saturday at A Book Place in Riverhead. The top prize went to Leah Fisher for her story “The Song Ghost,” an accounting of the painful dissolution of a long-term relationship. In contrast, the second-place story, “The Autumn Dance” by Sandra Archbold, is about the blossoming of a lifelong romance. Both winners received gift cards for A Book Place.

Ms. Fisher, who grew up in western Suffolk but now lives in Nassau County, writes regularly as a hobby and submits her work to literary magazines. She learned of the contest from a friend on the day of the submission deadline. “She said, ‘There’s a writing contest from some writing group out east that I saw. You should do it,’ ” said Ms. Fisher. “And I looked at it, probably like, around two or three o’clock in the afternoon, and I was like, ‘This is due today. How am I supposed to do this?’ Then I thought, ‘You know what, carpe, and I’m just going to go ahead and go for it, because you never know.’”

The first-place decision was unanimous among the club members, something Ms. Fisher finds validating. “When I got the email that I won, I remember I was on a work call with a friend of mine who I work with, and I think I just literally screamed,” she said. “It was just really special for me, particularly because the story is kind of a gritty one and a little bit more challenging, and to have it recognized was really very meaningful.”

Ms. Archbold, an 81-year-old fashion designer from Riverhead, decided to write the story of meeting her husband after hearing an advertisement for the contest on the radio. Despite having never written anything beyond school assignments, she knew what story to tell as soon as she heard the autumn theme. “I’ve always wanted to tell my kids this story of how I met their father,” she said. “I’ve been wanting to write it, and just never get around to it. So this forced things, because it had to be in by a date. I just started writing, just sitting there, longhand, writing what I remembered.”  

Ms. Archbold’s daughter, a graduate of the Katherine Gibbs School, helped her edit the draft down to 1,200 words while keeping the voice consistent. “I thought 1,200 words was a lot. I didn’t even know if I could make 1,200 words,” Ms. Archbold said. “And, you know, she helped to edit it for me, because she knows my language, she knows the way I write, and I didn’t want it to sound like somebody else.”

Frank Petrignani, one of the founders of the Well Spoken Writer’s Club, hopes to have more contests like this in the future. The club’s stated mission is to promote the love of reading and writing on the North Fork. “I think we’re all grateful for meeting up and being able to share our stories, especially at a time where people are so involved with social media. I love that we’re meeting up in person as a group, getting to know each other as people, and just sharing our stories and having that outlet,” said Mr. Petrignani.

Club member Franco Calderale, who helped organize the contest, also finds the group a helpful social connection. “It’s like a sharing time. So as we meet and we share our writings, and we’re developing the craft, we’re also developing a relationship between one another, which is kind of neat. It’s one of those byproducts of the actual events that you didn’t necessarily expect,” he said.

While the Well Spoken Writers Club is not currently accepting new members, they hope that their success in the community will inspire others to seek connection and foster a love for writing. Ms. Fisher, for her part, is thankful for the prospects the group and its contest have provided. “I’m incredibly grateful for people like Frank and this writer’s group, she said. “For groups to exist that give people like me, who are just hobbyist writers, an opportunity to put our work out into the world, I’m just really grateful for it, because it’s work on top of their day job.”