FreeFall Magazine Annual Prose Contest
Fall 2017, 1st Prize Winner, Fiction (“How They Move On“)
From Judge Bruce Hunter. “Psychologically compelling and skillfully written, “How They Move On,” told from a widower’s perspective, is an emotionally nuanced and intimate story about a doctor’s recovery from grief with an unexpected ending that hints at Chekhov. Wood’s compassion shines….”
“the Same” Literary Journal Short Fiction Contest
Fall 2017, First Place Winner, Fiction (“A Kind of Falling“)
Writer’s Union of Canada Emerging Writer’s Short Prose Contest
2017, Shortlist (second year in a row!), Fiction (“How They Move On”)
From judges Eden Robinson, Amy Stuart, and Russell Wangersky: “A seamless story with not a single false note. Spare writing that gives readers years in two or three sentences; just the right detail at the precise moment it is needed. An excellent structure and natural narrative flow that builds a slow, inevitable recognition that we come to along with the narrator. This is a skilled writer giving readers a bittersweet story [with] not a smidge of sentimentality.” And: “This story was unexpected and beautiful. . . Somehow [it] manages to be both simple and complex, both small and universal. I really enjoyed reading it.”
Causeway Lit Creative Nonfiction Contest
Winter 2016/2016, Winner, (“Marriage Backwaters [A Love Story])
WOW, Women-on-Writing Flash Fiction Contest
Summer 2016, Runner Up, Flash Fiction (“Mourners at the Grave of the Other Dr. Johansen”)
Bath Flash Fiction Prize
June 2016, Second Place, Flash Fiction (“Rags, Riches”)
From judge Michelle Elvy: “[A] wonderful character sketch, with the beating sun setting the mood and scorching the reader’s heart. . . . We also glimpse something like hope, albeit heartbreaking. Youth embodied in golden bodies of teenagers: the promise of a life not lived, a life over there – just out of reach. Exceptional detail opening up a cavernous world of empty. And a fully imagined sequence creating a perfect close.”
Writer’s Union of Canada Developing Writer’s Short Prose Contest
2016, Shortlist, Fiction (“Truth and Rhetoric”)
From judges Gail Bowen, Shauntay Grant, and Eric Siblin: “Intellectually and emotionally engaging, as well as entertaining. . . . The writer is very skilled at weaving intimate emotional details. The prose is honest, very poetic. Sad, and beautiful.
Digital Health Awards, Audio/Mobile
2016, Merit Prize, Health Journalism (Podcast, Heart Sounds with Shelley Wood)
Frank McCourt Creative Nonfiction Prize
2016, Winner, Nonfiction (“The Scrubber of Bodies”)
From judge Ben Tanzer: “ ‘The Scrubber of Bodies’ is an electric look at the body and connection, and how ones loses oneself to the fleeting nature of pleasure. It is also an exploration of marriage, however, and how such intimacies might lead to jealousy and confusion, or at least the idea that sometimes we seek pleasure in those things as well.”
Tethered by Letters F(r)iction Fall 2015 Contest
2016, Winner, Fiction (“Think of Sad”)
From reviewer Jade Blackwater (Brainripples): “Wood’s Think of Sad, a short story contest winner, paints a bittersweet portrait of people who connect through distances of space, time, and memory; how those distances grow and shrink in a blink.”
Toasted Cheese Literary Journal, A Midsummer Tale Contest
2015, Honorable Mention, Fiction (“The Drop”)
Mash Stories Competition #7
2015, Shortlist, Fiction (“Lemons for Arthur”)
The Malahat Review, Open Season Awards
2015, Finalist, Fiction* (“The Moment I Left You”)
*This was submitted as nonfiction but was mysteriously misfiled.
carte blanche/Creative Nonfiction Collective Competition
2014, Honourable Mention (“What Happened That Day”)
Okanagan Short Story Contest
2014, Winner (“Leave-taking”)
From judge Gerry Shikatani: “Written in a seductively cadenced prose, it slips us in and out of their lives over the decades, in vivid vignette-like episodes that move us fluidly through the narrative. The diction is beautifully textured in a gentle drama that leaves us wondering how each character will move on.”
Room Magazine Annual Contest (Fiction)
2013, Shortlist (“The Drop”)
Association of Healthcare Publication Editors Awards
2013, Gold, Best Website (Editor, theheart.org)
Okanagan Short Story Contest
2013, Shortlist (“What comes next”)
Canadian Online Publishing Awards
2012, Runner-up, Best online only article or series of articles (“Drugs, money, and glory: Is cancer beating CVD?”)
Okanagan Short Story Contest
2012, Third place (“The Drop”)
Canadian Online Publishing Awards
2011, Silver, Best overall online-only publication website (Editor, theheart.org)
Canadian Online Publishing Awards
2011, Runner-up, Best online only article or series of articles (“Betty Crocker, Coke, and CardioSmart at ACC 2011: If CV prevention gets a boost, does it matter who pays?”)
Online News Awards 2010
Specialty Site Journalism, Independent (Editor, theheart.org)
National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM)
2009 Print Journalism Award (The Myxo Ring Mix-up).
Okanagan Short Story Contest
2008, Shortlist (“Safe”)