Five NCC students won awards for their creative writing at the 2005 Patsy Lea Core Living Memorial Scholarship Awards Ceremony on Thursday, April 21.
Student submissions were divided into fiction and poetry categories.
Poetry winners were Jennifer Whigham, first, Adria Johnson, second, and Deanna Larsen, third. Fiction winners were Kurt Milberger, first, Eric Erkenbrack, second, and Deanna Larsen, third.
All winners received books provided by Bedford St. Martin's Publishers and Penguin Putnam Publishers. First place winners also received $250. Second place winners received a book tote from the NCC Bookstore.
NCC English instructor Kris Bigalk, who chairs the English department's creative writing committee, has been involved with the scholarship for four years. She said the competition increases every year.
“We had a number of strong entries this year,” Bigalk said. “The quality was amazing. Every year it gets better.”
Competition for the top spot, according to Bigalk, was intense.
“The judges said it was hard to pick a winner,” she said.
Freya Manfred judged the poetry submissions and Lynette Reini-Grandell judged fiction.
Manfred, daughter of author Frederick Manfred, lives outside St. Paul with her husband. Her latest book of poetry is “My Only Home.” Manfred's poetry has been published in over 100 reviews and magazines and over 25 anthologies. Her literary memoir, “Frederick Manfred: A Father Remembered” was nominated for a Minnesota Book Award and she's currently finishing a novel, “Tall,” and doing public school workshops.
Reini-Grandell is an Ache Magazine/SASE fiction award recipient. Her work has appeared in Ache, Evergreen Chronicles and Poetry Motel. She hosts “Write on Radio,” a radio show featuring contemporary writers. She is an NCC English instructor and is currently working on a novel.
According to Manfred, judging poetry isn't difficult because she's been writing and reading it all her life. She said all the poetry submissions were excellent.
Manfred said each student that placed in the poetry category was a fine writer. She chose Whigham as the winner because her poetry was the most professional with no wasted words or lines.
“In a poetry contest, each line and each word must be as perfectly presented and as carefully considered as possible,” she said.
Reini-Grandell said she was impressed with the fiction submissions.
“Stylistically, they were very energetic,” she said.
Fiction winner Milberger's piece, “Thirteen Minutes and Eight Seconds,” examined a drug addict who has a near death experience and found himself addicted to dying. Milberger said his first place finish shocked him.
“I entered a horrible story last year that failed to get even third place,” he said. “I was more confident this year, but first place was surprising.”
Milberger, who said he writes every day, spent 10 to 12 hours on his winning submission. He spent a portion of his winnings and is setting the rest aside.
“I took my wife out for sushi and I'm saving the rest for textbooks next semester,” he said.
The scholarship was created in memory of former NCC student Patsy Lea Core who attended NCC in 1976. The scholarship honors and continues her enthusiasm for creative writing.
Both winners read from their submissions at the award ceremony. Reini-Grandell and Manfred also read. |
