2012 Writing Contest Winners

Jon Scott Nelson Freshmen Creative Writing Contest

First Place
Paige Jarvis
“The Justice System”
Instructor: Ellesa High

Second Place
Kiersten Woods
“We Never Expect It to Happen to Us”
Instructor: Ellesa High

Third Place
Patrick Kennedy
“Olivia Constants”
Instructor: Sharon Kelly


Jon Scott Nelson First-Year Writing Award

Molly Buxton
“Persevere and Prosper”
Instructor: Andi Stout

Jenay Grant
“The Creative Process”
Instructor: Andi Stout

Elizabeth Newport
“No Regrets”
Instructor: Jason Kapcala


Jon Scott Nelson Professional Writing and Editing Award

First Place
Christian Coby
“An Introduction to Laboratory Techniques: Plate Streaking”
Instructor: Benjamin Myers

Second Place
Lindsay Wolf
“Understanding Shiitake Mushroom Inoculation”
Instructor: Benjamin Myers

Third Place
Monique Odom and Athar Nawab
“5K Walk/Run and Concert ‘For the Kids’”
Instructor: Elizabeth Juckett


Waitman Barbe Creative Writing Contest

Fiction Division
Eric Cipriani
“Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere”
Instructor: James Harms

Honorable Mention:
David Williamson
“Water Rings on the Hands”
Instructor: Maurice “Glenn” Taylor


Non-fiction Division
Brenna Ramirez
“The Nature of Ghosts”
Instructor: Ellesa High

Honorable Mention:
David Williamson
“Time Is Not A Proper Sentence”
Instructor: Ellesa High

Poetry Division
Amanda Darby
Various poems
Instructors: Mark Brazaitis and James Harms

Honorable Mention:
Travis Mersing
Various poems
Instructors: Mark Brazaitis


James Paul Brawner Expository Writing Contest

Undergraduate Division

First Place
Maria Miller
“Rhythm, Blues, and Langston Hughes”
Instructor: Erin Johns-Speese

Second Place
Paige Jarvis
“The Heart of the Matter: A Rhetorical Analysis of John F. Kennedy’s ‘Civil Rights Address’”
Instructor: Mary Angel Blount


Third Place
Alexis Cocco
“Polish Men and Pyromaniacs: The Art of Creating a Masterpiece”
Instructor: Ellesa High


102 Division

First Place
Cathy Lally
“The Interconnection of Science and Philosophy”
Instructor: David Beach

Second Place
Matt Saporito
“On Literature and Its Steps into the Future”
Instructor: Aaron Percich

Third Place
Darrian Duckworth
“From Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell to Don’t Ask, Don’t Receive”
Instructor: Sarah Childers


Graduate Division

First Place
Aaron Percich
“Under The British Son: Irish Selfhood and Imperial Shadows in The Last September”
Instructor: Lisa Weihman


Second Place
Jericho Williams
“Far Beyond the Pages, a Morose Man Brushes Hair: Hugo Montmorency and Elizabeth Bowen’s Irish Gothic in The Last September”
Instructor: Lisa Weihman

Third Place
Phillip Zapkin
“Visiting Grandmother: A Question about the Ethics of the Friendly Teaching Persona”
Instructor: Nathalie Singh-Corcoran


Russ MacDonald Graduate Creative Writing Contest

Fiction Division
Rachel King
“The Red Heads”
Instructor: Mark Brazaitis

Honorable Mention:
Shane Stricker
“The Gospel According to Charlotte Atwater”
Instructor: Mark Brazaitis

Nonfiction Division
Rebecca Doverspike
“Body”
Instructor: Katie Fallon

Honorable Mention:
Aaron Geiger
“My Poetic Map of the United States”
Instructor: Katie Fallon

Poetry Division
Melissa Atkinson
Various Poems
Instructor: James Harms and Mary Ann Samyn

Honorable Mention:
Lisa Beans
Various poems
Instructors: James Harms and Mary Ann Samyn


Appalachian Writing Award

M’lyn Gibson
“Wild Foods”
Instructor: Sarah Einstein

Matt Welch
“Just Some Good Ole Boys”
Instructor: Maurice “Glenn” Taylor