
Laura was awarded two prizes in the Lakes Area Writers Alliance 2019 Writing Contest.
Her piece, Portrait of a Wedding, won 1st place in the Creative Non-Fiction category. The judge's comments on the work focused on Hansen's depiction of the setting. "This beautifully descriptive short story captured the essence of a small, intimate wedding set in an old chapel filled with family and friends. A 150-year-old chapel like this one has character and charm, providing wedding goers with a sense of wonderment that extends beyond the church to nature that surrounds it. The writer put us right there in the pew, admiring the picturesque scene and the young couple set to start a new life together, supported and surrounded by those they love. Nicely done."
Laura's story The Village Made of Thread was awarded 2nd place in Fiction. The Fiction judge made ample comments about the style and feel of the entry. "This is a beautifully written story, and it had a magical-realism, Garcia Marquez vibe to it(mythical, allegorical, communal) that stayed intact from beginning to end. Beautifully crafted sentences and very select, “telling” details make it impossible to forget. Here are a few of my favorite sentences: “On such evenings, it was hard to tell if the setting sun was birthing a mythical village or the village was dissolving into the setting sun”; “When the chapel bells rang on her wedding day, the birds lifted their wings from the fabric of her dress, rose in a spiraling flock to circle the bell tower, and when the bells ceased ringing, they returned to her gown again”; “In the morning, there would be little pools of salt water and sometimes a bit of loose thread tangled like seaweed on the floor.” The vast majority of the sentences read well aloud. The last sentence is the perfect ending to this story."
The Village Made of Thread is one of the central pieces of writing in The Night Journey Laura's newest collection of poems and short fiction.
Read more about it at this link.
Laura was awarded two prizes in the Lakes Area Writers Alliance 2019 Writing Contest.
Her piece, Portrait of a Wedding, won 1st place in the Creative Non-Fiction category. The judge's comments on the work focused on Hansen's depiction of the setting. "This beautifully descriptive short story captured the essence of a small, intimate wedding set in an old chapel filled with family and friends. A 150-year-old chapel like this one has character and charm, providing wedding goers with a sense of wonderment that extends beyond the church to nature that surrounds it. The writer put us right there in the pew, admiring the picturesque scene and the young couple set to start a new life together, supported and surrounded by those they love. Nicely done."
Laura's story The Village Made of Thread was awarded 2nd place in Fiction. The Fiction judge made ample comments about the style and feel of the entry. "This is a beautifully written story, and it had a magical-realism, Garcia Marquez vibe to it(mythical, allegorical, communal) that stayed intact from beginning to end. Beautifully crafted sentences and very select, “telling” details make it impossible to forget. Here are a few of my favorite sentences: “On such evenings, it was hard to tell if the setting sun was birthing a mythical village or the village was dissolving into the setting sun”; “When the chapel bells rang on her wedding day, the birds lifted their wings from the fabric of her dress, rose in a spiraling flock to circle the bell tower, and when the bells ceased ringing, they returned to her gown again”; “In the morning, there would be little pools of salt water and sometimes a bit of loose thread tangled like seaweed on the floor.” The vast majority of the sentences read well aloud. The last sentence is the perfect ending to this story."
The Village Made of Thread is one of the central pieces of writing in The Night Journey Laura's newest collection of poems and short fiction.
Read more about it at this link.