Local is finalist in CBC contest
by Terry Long, The Daily News
November 20, 2007
CBC Radio’s Canada Writes came into the home stretch at 11:30 a.m. this morning, with the first of three broadcasts of the contest’s final write-off in Toronto.
HRM resident and contest finalist Ben Boudreau said yesterday that he was first bitten by the writing bug when he was five or six. When all of his friends were drawing pictures and colouring, he was writing little stories to go with them.
When Boudreau was a little older, he went to live with his father on a small island off the Dutch coast. Boudreau spent three years there while his father, a marine biologist studies coastal changes.
“I picked up the language in about six months,” said Boudreau.
More than anything, he said, children need to communicate. He believes they will overcome any obstacle to do so.
Boudreau’s travels have served as an inspiration for his writing. They have taught him to have an open mind, and to see the world in a different light.
“I have a running narrative in my head,” he said. He adds that he is constantly looking at events in his own life and in the world at large, with an eye toward trying to see them from new and different perspectives. “I try to look for a more creative way to view the world.”
Boudreau doesn’t follow a particular ritual while writing. His preferred writing strategy is to keep working and reworking a piece until he is satisfied.
“I need to really care about something to write,” he said.
Boudreau was attracted by the contest’s short submission length - a maximum of only 200 words - and the minimal time commitment. He was eager to exploit an opportunity for “shameless self-promotion.”
Boudreau admits that he hasn’t had a chance to think about the contest much. He made his submission right before the deadline and received a call from the CBC a few days later. “I didn’t think about it,” he said.
He works with All Rights Reserved, a volunteer-run publication dedicated to providing publicity for writers. It publishes twice a year, and prints not only amateur writers, but award-winning authors from around the world.