Nunavik spoken word artist picks up top writing award

Taqralik Partridge is the winner of the 2010 Quebec writing competition for her short story “Igloolik.” (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)

Taqralik Partridge’s learned Nov. 23 that she won first place in the Quebec Writers’ Federation’s 2010 writing competition, with a short story about an Inuk couple living in Montreal.

Partridge, originally from Kuujjuaq, is a Montreal-based spoken word artist and Avataq Cultural Institute’s director of communications.

This is Partridge’s first short story and first literary award from the QWF, which promotes English-language writers in Quebec. Its Quebec writing competition awards excellence in original and unpublished work.

Patridge’s winning story, entitled “Igoolik,” is about a young Inuk woman living in Montreal with her boyfriend who is having trouble adapting to life in the city and considering returning north.

“I was thinking about how long I’ve lived in the South and ever after all those years, how I still feel like an immigrant,” said Partridge, who has called Montreal home for 13 years. “You really have to adapt and become someone else.”

It’s a story many could relate to, she said.

“I had a feeling they would either really like it or really hate it,” she said, adding she’s not sure if she’ll write more fiction. “But [the award] is a nice bit of encouragement.”

Partridge’s award comes with $1,000 and publication in the winter issue of Montreal’s Maisonneuve magazine. The piece will also appear in an anthology of work from the QWF’s other finalists.