The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

rO CN LO CN Author wins national writing contest for short story by Marta Marychuk Oakville Beaver Staff C D >> >> C D "O if) oc LU LU < o o q c o ±± J= c C D C D E g 'if) Oakville author Shiela Jane won first place in the short story category at the 30th Annual National Capital Writing Contest (NCWC) held Tuesday May 9 in Ottawa. Jane won for her story The Flower Seller of Agra. "Palace intrigue in an exotic setting beguiles the reader as they are revealed by a simple handmaiden," NCWC judge Matthew Bin said in a media release. "We're quickly caught up in the tale of Jahan and his canny bride Mumtaz, beset on all sides by rivals for the Emperor's throne. But as the story twists and turns toward its end, the narrative voice breaks sud denly and dramatically -- and we're left to pick up the pieces. An excellent piece of storytelling that lin gers long after the story is done," Bin added. Jane's work has been published in a variety of mag azines, newspapers and fiction anthologies. Further details can be found on her website at shielajane.com. Second place went to Elle Wild of Bowen Island BC, for California Pure and third place went to Jeff Shiau of Ottawa for Extra Innings. Honourable Mentions went to Barbara Wackerle Baker of Calgary for Unexpected, Di Golding of Otta wa, for Night Swim and Julio Heleno Gomes of Thun der Bay for his story, Distant Connections. The NCWC was formerly open only to residents of Ontario and Quebec but in honour of its 30th anni versary coinciding with Canada's 150th birthday the competition was open to all of Canada and will be in the future. This year, also in honour of the 30th anniversary, the branch published an anthology of the finalists' pieces. Shiela Jane won first in the short story category of the 30th Annual National Capital Writing Contest for her story The Flower Seller ofAgra. | submitted film c a SHOWTiMES FOR MAY 26 - JUNE 1 N EWTHISW EEK: BAYW ATCH , PIRATES O FTHE CARIBBEAN: D EA DM en TELL N oTALES Alien: Covenant (18A) Fri-Tue: 1:45,4:45,7:30,9:45 W ed: 4:45,7:30,9:45 Thu: 1:45,4:45,7:30,9:45 Baywatch (14A) Fri: 10:50,1:00,3:30,7:10,9:40 Sat-Mon: 1:00,3:30,7:10,9:40 Tue: 10:50,1:00,3:30,7:10,9:40 Wed-Thu: 1:00,3:30,7:10,9:40 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (Pg) Fri: 11:15,1:30,4:30,6:30,10:00 Sat-Sun: 12:45,2:50,5:00, 6:30,10:00 M on: 1:30,4:30,6:30,10:00 Tue: 11:15,1:30,4:30,6:30,10:00 W ed: 1:30,4:30,10:00 Thu: 1:30,4:30,6:30,10:00 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (PG) Fri: 11:00,1:20,4:10,7:00,8:40 Sat-Mon: 1:20,4:10,7:00,8:40 Tue: 11:00,1:20,4:10,7:00,8:40 W ed-Thu: 1:20,4:10,7:00,8:40 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (PG) Fri: 10:40,1:10,3:50,6:45,9:30 Sat - M on: 1 :10,3:50,6:45,9:30 Tue: 10:40, 10,3:50,6:45,9:30 Wed-Thu: 1 10,3:50,6:45,9:30 Subjects ofwork mostly children, husband continued from p. 37 Although being a computer games artist was a wonderful job, she wanted to create work that had more meaning and self-expression. "In the end, you have to do what you want," says Manuel. "You have to follow your own way." For the last eight years, she has been raising twin boys, who are eight, and a son who just turned seven, while living in various countries around the world. The family moved around due to the nature of her hus- band's work, as a producer in a computer games company. The family came to Canada last November, before having lived in Australia, where her children were born. They also had lived in the UK again, and then Germany. "Coming here (to Oakville) The staff of Yo u #nique O akville has relocated to Intermezzo Hair Studio Balayage · H ighlights · Colour Experts T u es& W e d 15% O FF any Chemical Service with Select Stylists Open Tuesday-Saturday COM · 905-825-2840 171 Speers Road, Oakville (at Kerr St.) 905-338-6397 (MEWS) w w w .film .ca EM M is great," says Manuel. "People have so much respect." With her children now in school, Manuel has returned to her passion of painting por traits. Manuel recently joined the Oakville Art Society and is sub mitting work to the Toronto Portrait Society. She also recently attended the American Association of Portrait Artists annual confer ence, held last month in At lanta, Ga. The subjects of her work are mostly her children and hus band. However, she is available for commissioned artwork. Although Manuel generally prefers to work from photos she has taken of the subject, people can submit their own photos if desired. For more information, or to view her recent paintings: visit h ttps://w w w .n adin em an uel. com/recent-works.