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Dennis Vanderspek
Dennis Vanderspek of Millbrook has won the 2021 Kenneth Patchen Award for the Innovative Novel for his wonderful novel A Is for Everyone! From among the many dozens of delightful books submitted for the contest, Vanderspek’s novel eventually rose to the top. In his encomium for the novel, contest judge Derek Pell, author of Naked Lunch at Tiffany’s, Snowdrop in Africa, Assassination Rhapsody, and a score of other amazing books, included this to say about A is for Everyone:
“In this extraordinary fiction, the author has chosen one letter (“A”) to represent the entire alphabet. All letters lead to A, and A is for everyone.
“Using the familiar format of an alphabet book for children (“A is for….”), this fiction is a truncated alphabet of surprises.” “The language is simple, in the best sense of the word, deceptively so, slightly skewed, à la Russell Edson.”
There are plans to publish the book this winter. In the meantime, readers can find a different sort of content from this writer in his regular column in this paper under the banner “Stargazing” in which he provides interesting and accessible information about the night sky.
Congratulations to Dennis! KG
