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Aspiring writer captures international writing contest

When you walk into Tara Fietz's family home, you see books. They are sitting on shelves, piled neatly in boxes near her desk - there's even a little bird named Lucy Maud Montgomery.
Tara Fietz, a local 18-year-old Grade 12 student, was declared one of 30 winners in a character analysis competition put on by Australian author Kate Morton’s website.
Tara Fietz, a local 18-year-old Grade 12 student, was declared one of 30 winners in a character analysis competition put on by Australian author Kate Morton’s website.

When you walk into Tara Fietz's family home, you see books.

They are sitting on shelves, piled neatly in boxes near her desk - there's even a little bird named Lucy Maud Montgomery. If you're lucky, the homeschooled Grade 12 student might let you read some of her poetry.

"I just love words, I always have," said the 18-year-old with a smile.

Recently, the bookworm was one of only 30 winners of a literary competition put on by Australian author Kate Morton, who has written such novels as The Forgotten Garden and - most recently - The Secret Keeper. The contest was open to people from all over the world.

To qualify, Fietz had to submit an analysis of one of the characters from one of Morton's book. She chose to examine Juniper Blythe from The Distant Hours - her favourite character from her favourite Morton book.

"I didn't want to tell anyone," said Fietz with a smile. "But I screamed when I received the email telling me I won."

She received a gift basket full of chocolate for her efforts, along with a signed Australian edition of Morton's latest book, The Secret Keeper.

The work of the Aussie authoress has a historical edge to it, a quality that Fietz said she is drawn to. In fact, much of Fietz's own work is grounded in the past, including her epic poem The Soldier's Battle.

"The Soldier's Battle is the story of Nicolai Tretyakov, a Russian soldier in the battle of Stalingrad," Fietz explained in an email. "He is just one man in a massive war, and even though confused, frightened, and yearning for home, he will still fight to the death for his country and comrades."

The Soldier's Battle

(An excerpt)

Ahead of us scarred buildings tower,

Crumbling, embers, in the gloom.

The great Volga stretches like a line of tar,

Black with night, ash and blood.

We hear the crackling of the flames,

Bursts of gunfire, the wind wailing through

Shell-shattered structures.

Those of us who have rifles, clutch them.

Short on ammunition, we wait, scattered,

In bomb-craters, ditches, underneath any cover,

Awaiting orders, watching our city.

The Comrade Commander issues rifles to

The many who have none, culled from Army rear.

Misha is skeptical: he would rather have

His old rifle, he knows it better, he says;

But he lost it at Kharkov - and so...we wait.

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