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Creative writing contest
winners to read their work

By Bryan D'Andrea

The Department of English will present a reading by winners of the Student Creative Writing Contest at 7:30 p.m. on May 21 at Trinity Commons Building located at 2230 Euclid Ave.
It will feature fiction, poetry, drama and nonfiction writing pieces from first and second place winners.
First place winners include Jenarre M. David, Virginia Konchan, Michelle Krivanek, Tara M. Broeckel Ooten and Baixi Su-Alexander.
Second place winners include Michael Crisfasi, Jason Reed-Mundell, Jeffrey Rice, Karen Schubert and Katherine Warren.
The contest, which began in 1991, took a different approach this year.
“Up until this year, the contest was offered twice during the academic year,” said Rita Grabowski, administrative coordinator of the poetry center.
“But the decision was made in the fall of 2007 to only offer it each spring because we wanted to emphasize the award.”
For many students, the contest takes on a different angle from typical writing exercises.
“It’s a great way for students to get creative with their writing instead of having to follow specific guidelines that are common in traditional assignments,” said Mike Geither, a professor who helped judge this year’s contest.
“It’s not easy to pick the winners because these students are very talented and have obviously put in a lot of time and effort into their pieces,” Geither said.
The contest, which had 57 entries this year, is available for all undergraduate and graduate students, along with students in the NEOMFA program whose gateway school is CSU.
Approximately $6,000 in tuition scholarships was awarded to the 15 first, second and third places winners with first place winners each receiving $500, second place winners receiving $400 and third place winners receiving $250.