CAz nAtivE’s writinG CElEbrAtEd

by JAson GAbAk Editor

As a writer, Jadi Campbell, a Cazenovia native, has garnered a great deal of praise and attention for her work.

The most recent accolade, which came as a total surprise to the author, was being named the winner of the 2023 SanFranciscoBookFestivalfor general fiction for her story collection “The Trail Back Out.”

Campbell said she recently completed her fifth novel in and in the process of sending out query letters for publication she was compiling information on her previous works when she learned that she had been named a winner in San Francisco.

“At the start of July I received an announcement that the winners of the 2023 San Francisco Book Festival had been selected,” Campbell said. “They did not personally inform us if we had placed. I scrolled down the official announcement page and saw that my book had won.”

Campbell’s work was up against a large field of competitors.

According to Campbell, the festival doesn’t have a category for short story collections and she said she didn’t think she was going to win since she had to submit her work in the general fiction category, putting it up against everything from romances to mysteries, thrillers and everything in between.

“My book won over more than 600 other titles,” Campbell said. “To be selected was a fantastic shock. Fewer than 5% of books considered ever place in their festivals. To be honest, I figured it had the proverbial snowball’s chance in hell. ‘The Trail Back Out’ is a collection of short stories. Aside from science fiction, all the fiction books were entered

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