In fall 2025, the Trinity College Friends of the Library launched a short story contest in honour of the Friends’ 50th anniversary. The challenge: Write a work of fiction with a tangible connection to Trinity College or the John W. Graham Library.
And write they did! Forty-three entries arrived — 31 from undergraduate students, the rest from staff, faculty, and alumni — a response that far exceeded the Friends’ expectations. Submissions were judged anonymously through a two-tiered process: initial reading and shortlisting by a panel that included Nancy Graham ’58; Cathy Spark ’79; Edie Torbay ’65; Maureen Simpson ’74; Linda Bell ’66; and Kate Macdonald, Nicholls Librarian & Director, Graham Library. Final selections were made by Trinity alumnus and award-winning author Kenneth Oppel.
Of the experience, Graham reflected on the range of themes that surfaced: loneliness, apocalypse, distance from home, jealousy, identity and achievement anxiety, loss, and the search for connection. The Graham Library appeared in many forms — as refuge, as archive, as a place where lives intersect.
“Such a privilege,” she wrote, “to be offered these glimpses of what’s on undergraduate minds at Trinity today.”
Four entries stood out.
The winners
First prize ($1,500) — Isobel Dalzell, The Patron Saint of First-Years
Isobel Dalzell is a second-year Trinity College student studying Classics. She enjoys playing the piano in the Rigby Room and critiquing the food in Strachan.
Kenneth Oppel says: “I enjoyed this understated story about a first year’s friendship with a mysterious upper year, and especially appreciated the evocative description of the ‘dense and dry pancakes’ of Strachan Hall.”
Second prize ($750) — Gabriel Rodin Lozada ’25, Visions in the Lampman Room
Gabriel Rodin Lozada ’25 is a recent Trinity College graduate currently living in Toronto. He is on a break from school before (hopefully) returning to pursue a master’s degree in anthropology. When not at his day job, he keeps busy writing, with the aim of one day making a career as a novelist.
Kenneth Oppel says: “A pleasingly fusty, Victorian tone pervades this story about a jaded fourth year battling sleep in the library.”
Third prize ($500) — Nino Jan Pol “NJP” Dosdos ’25, Stephanos
Nino Jan Pol “NJP” Dosdos ’25 is an MPhil student at the University of Cambridge.
Kenneth Oppel says: “The baroque writing in this timeless story of love and loss had me hoping the clergyman narrator might murder his former lover, but the writer chose a wiser path.”
Honourable mention — Johanna Kiik, Passing Speed
Johanna Kiik is a Trinity College student studying a mix of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Cell & Molecular Biology, and Immunology. She loves writing odd short stories and poetry, and her work has been featured in various journals. She was the recipient of the 2024 Dorothy Shoemaker Award for her short story “Mehetapja.” Outside of writing, she adores performing music, learning about wild, edible, and medicinal plants, and watching period dramas.
Kenneth Oppel says: “Trinity definitely seems to inspire ghost stories, and the spare writing in this one had flair and personality.”
About the Friends of the Library
The Friends of the John W. Graham Library was founded in November 1975. Open to everyone — you do not need to be a Trinity graduate — the Friends support the Library and Trinity College Archives through events, fundraising, and the popular annual book sale held every October in Seeley Hall. For a minimum donation of $25, members receive a tax receipt, invitations to Friends literary events throughout the year, the Living Trinity e-newsletter, and opportunities to volunteer with the book sale and other Friends activities.
For more information, contact the Friends at trinity.fotl@utoronto.ca or 416-978-6750. You can also find the Friends on Instagram (@trinitycollegefotl) and Facebook (@TrinityCollegeFOTL).
To become a member, donate online through the Trinity College Friends of the Library secure donation site, or download the FOTL Membership Form, enclose a cheque payable to TRINITY COLLEGE, and send it to: The Treasurer, Friends of the Library, John W. Graham Library, Trinity College, 6 Hoskin Avenue, Toronto, M5S 1H8. You may also drop off your form and cheque at the John W. Graham Library at 3 Devonshire Place.
