'Swarf' Wins $5000 Missouri Review Jeffrey E. Smith Editors' Prize for Non-fiction

After something of a Christmas lull, it came as a pleasant surprise here at Tyler's publicity team to learn that he'd won a major writing award to kickstart 2017: the Missouri Review's Jeffrey E. Smith Editors' Prize, in the non-fiction category.  This is a real honour for Tyler, and comes with a substantial dividend: a cash prize of $5000.  Tyler, along with the winners in the poetry and fiction categories, will be flying out to Columbus, Missouri, in April for the award ceremony and reception.  His winning entry, 'Swarf', is a piece of non-fiction based on his experiences working in an industrial unit and factory in Mid Wales, and an injury sustained on the jobsite.  Normally we might gently mock Tyler for his blue collar aspirations, but we recall the injury in question, and the night it happened: it makes for real drama, accurately portrayed in his rendition, which will be published in a forthcoming edition of The Missouri Review.  Congratulations to Tyler, and many thanks to Jeffrey E. Smith and the good folk at The Missouri Review for sponsoring and organizing the competition.