The annual Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Tri-Campus Writing Contest Awards Ceremony was held at the Jefferson Davis Campus on Thursday, April 23. A first-, second- and third-place winner is chosen in poetry, short short story, short story, essay and one-act play. Winning submissions are published in “illumination,” the college literary journal. Included in the journal is artwork by Jefferson Davis Campus art and design students. The work was selected based on the themes of the winning literary work.
Dr. Sue Walker, Alabama Poet Laureate and the Stokes Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing at the University of South Alabama, spoke at the event. Student winners also read their work aloud during the ceremony.
“The Writing Contest and the awards ceremony are college-wide events, and their continuing success is the result of dynamic team effort,” said Dr. Chance Harvey, event coordinator and language arts instructor at the Jefferson Davis Campus. “Language arts instructors encourage students from their Composition I, Composition II and sophomore literature classes to enter original work in the contest.”
Judges this year included Betty O’Brian, Kevan Brown, Sue Bennett, Willie Ulmer Daniels and Ryan Pierini.
Poetry:
First Place: “Sassafras” by Bobby McIntyre
Second Place: “Colossus” by Jesse Jacquet
Third Place: “Falling Leaves ” by Jennifer Rog
Essay:
First Place: “Self Discovery” by Joshua Andrews
Second Place: “A Walk on the Wild Side in Storyville” by Vel M. Merrithey
