The winners of the 2019 Accenti Writing and Photo contests were announced at the Accenti Magazine Awards, during the 2^nd edition of the Librissimi Italian Book Fair held at the Columbus Centre in Toronto. The awards were presented by publisher Domenic Cusmano and editor-in-chief Licia Canton. My photo Cruciverba was selected as the winner of the ‘Capture an Italian Moment’ photo contest!

Cruciverba (croo•chee•VER•bah)=Crossword. ‘On hot summer afternoons, I love to wander the winding cobblestone streets and narrow alleys of the medieval hilltop village of my birth, searching for interesting scenes of everyday life. This image of an octogenarian casually sitting in the shade doing a crossword with his cane resting at his feet immediately captured my attention.  It gave me hope that I will still be able to do my weekly cruciverba at his age.’

The winner of the 2019 Accenti writing contest is Eufemia Fantetti of Toronto for her short story ‘Tree of Life’.  Eufemia’s words dance off the page (or screen) and tug at the heart. I am looking forward to reading her upcoming book, My Father, Fortune-tellers & Me: A Memoir. The winning photos and stories will be featured in upcoming issues of Accenti online. Read about all of the finalists here.  Founded in 2002, the mission of Accenti Magazine ‘the magazine with an Italian accent’, is to document the evolution of the Italian-Canadian experience and disseminate its expression through the publication of literary and creative works. Accenti also aims to act as a conduit for dialogue among its readers and contributors. The 2020 photo and writing competition will be open and accepting submissions later in the year. To find out more, go to http://www.accenti.ca/photo-contest or http://www.accenti.ca/writing-contest.

Ciao, Cristina