Our Blog — The Literary Type

It isn’t often that we have the opportunity to come out from behind our desks, put on some swanky clothes and hobnob with the great and good of our community. But last week we did just that. We were bursting with excitement and pride as we stepped out to celebrate our own Kim Jernigan as a Woman of Waterloo (WOW) award winner. 

This award pays tribute to some outstanding women of Waterloo Region and Kim took the prize in the Creative Arts category. This WOW award is unique in that it not only celebrates a woman in a particular category but recipients get to recognize an individual who has been a leader or mentor in her life. Kim took the opportunity to honour her long-time mentor and former co-editor Peter Hinchcliffe.

Looking elegant and sounding as eloquent as ever, Kim took to the stage and thanked her husband, Ed, for his support over the years and then went on to recognize the team of editors, Board members and volunteers who helped direct The New Quarterly to its lofty place in the Canadian literary scene.

It was an evening full of incredible women, inspiring speeches with lots of cheers and tears, and the event was rounded off with the announcement of the door prize. In a room almost entirely full of women, our own fiction editor Bruce Johnstone won the prize; a bouquet of flowers and a 90 minute facial at a local spa. Hmmm, wonder how they’re going to work around that beard...