Denyse Woods has published five novels that have been translated into six languages.
But she said she was still surprised 鈥� and elated 鈥� when she learned that she had won the first . Especially when she read the praise for her story from contest judge Karen Russell, author of "Swamplandia."
"I had to lie down for a few minutes," Woods said. "When somebody like that writes about your work in that way ... You need to take three deep breaths and pinch yourself. A lot."
Woods is in Key West for the month of July to collect her prize 鈥� a residency at The Studios of Key West and the opportunity to write in Ernest Hemingway's studio at the .
"It'll take me awhile to settle. I'll have to do a lot of thinking in here. Somebody said writing is 90 percent thinking. So I'll do a lot of thinking in here as well and just absorbing," Woods said. "It's kind of overwhelming in a way, that Hemingway wrote in here. So it'll take a few days to work out how it affects how I work."
Woods is scheduled to read on July 20 as part of the annual and she also won a fishing trip as part of a marlin tournament.
