Brenna Conley a ‘short list’ finalist for the Paris Literary Prize for her novella, Protection.
Recent Berry graduate Brenna Conley is one of only seven short-list finalists for the prestigious Paris Literary Prize. If she wins the international prize for her unpublished literary work, Conley will win 10,000 euros and an all-expenses paid trip to Paris to read from her work.
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| Brenna Conley |
Conley, 23, who graduated in English from Berry last May, has been named to the short list for her novella “Protection,” which was written as her Honors thesis at Berry. The novella was submitted for the Paris prize by Dr. Brian Carroll, director of the Honors Program.
“I definitely did not expect to make the [short] list,” Conley said. “I started crying, because my world really was shaken.”
The Paris Literary Prize is an international fiction competition for unpublished writers established in 2010 by Shakespeare and Company and the de Groot Foundation, according to the Prize website. Conley was named one of 26 long-list finalists in mid-March, then one of seven short-list finalists this month.
Conley wrote her novella with the help of creative writing professors Michael Mejia, Dr. Sandra Meek and Dr. Abigail Greenbaum. Carroll said he determined to submit the work after reading it last May.
“I really believed in the quality of her work, which is an inventive, even provocative updating of Greek myth,” Carroll said. “It’s really well written. When I saw the Paris prize call, I immediately thought of Brenna’s novella and felt she had a chance.”
“The fact that he respected and enjoyed my writing was awesome,” Conley said. “I was enormously honored.”Conley was unaware that Carroll was planning to submit her work.
Conley said the novella is a fresh and deeper take on the Greek myth of Persephone (or Kore), daughter of Zeus, and Hades (or Demeter), queen of the underworld.
“I wanted to make it more than just a fable,” Conley said.
Her novella focuses explores joy and sorrow in the context of Persephone’s and Hades’s relationship, and how both are intrinsic parts of the human experience. What sets Conley’s novella apart, though, is its style.
Updating a Greek myth
“I always felt that Conley’s work was very distinctive, and what always stood out for me was her capacity for lyricism,” said Mejia, who is assistant professor of English at the University of Utah. He joined the Utah faculty from Berry in 2012.
Conley’s short-list status is an honor also the Honors Program and for Berry, Carroll said.
“Even if she doesn’t win, the recognition gained from being a finalist can catapult a young writer’s career,” he said. “And it should help Brenna really believe in herself as a writer.”
Conley said she does already consider her novella a success, regardless of how the final prize decisions go.
“I consider myself fortunate,” Conley said. “The 10,000 euros would be even less rewarding than the recognition in the literary world.”
In addition to the prize money and the travel, the Prize brings its winner international recognition and assistance in the publishing of his or her work. In addition to the grand prize winner, there will be two runner-up awards of 2,000 euros each. All three top finishers are invited to Paris for a weekend stay, to attend the prize ceremony, and to read their work at a special event at Shakespeare and Company, a famed Paris bookseller and book publisher. Shakespeare and Company is perhaps best known for first publishing James Joyce’s Ulysses in 1922.
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