The 2009 PWP Writing Contest offered three categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Poetry.
PWP runs this contest each year to give aspiring writers a chance to test out their work.
The 2009 contest brought in some excellent work from people all over the country, writings
that our judges were very impressed with and found difficult to choose between.
The winners of the 2009 contest are:
FICTION
1st Place Winner— “Another Deer” by Lois Marie Herrod – of Hopewell, NJ
2nd Place Winner — “Lay It Down” by Cathleen Cherry – of Prescott, AZ
3rd Place Winner — “Just Desserts” by Willma Gore – of Sedona, AZ
Runners-up: “The Execution of Claude Pictor” by John White – of Merritt Island, FL
“Fifth Friday” by Gary Griffith – of Prescott Valley, AZ
“Muse Janet” by John White – of Merritt Island, FL
NON-FICTION
1st Place Winner — “Voicemale” by Catherine Hahn – of Prescott, AZ
2nd Place Winner — “Beth & Cherokee: A Story of Healing” by Lyla Dee Hamilton – of Louisville, CO
3rd Place Winner — “Alas, Not Bound for Oz” by Kara Gibson – of Greenwood Springs, CO
Runners-up: “The Journey to Myself” by Stacey Blanchet – of San Diego, CA
“Ralph and Mario” by John Bauer – of Prescott, AZ
“My Part In Forever” by Catherine Hahn – of Prescott, AZ
POETRY
1st Place Winner – “When Nobody Wore Clothes” – by Karen Bradberry – of Albuquerque, NM
2nd Place Winner – “The Sound of Fruit” – by Debralee James – of Prescott, AZ
3rd Place Winner – “Yesterday” – by Faye Jones – of Little Rock, AK
Runners-up: Jeanne Quinn – of Prescott Valley, AZ
Ellaraine Lockie – of Sunnyvale, CA
Gloria Richardson – of Rockport, MA
PWP would like to give a special thank you to our judges for the 2009 PWP Writing Contest. Without their help we could not have presented this contest.
FINALIST JUDGES
SUSAN LANG is the author of a trilogy published by University of Nevada Press about a woman homesteading in the southwestern wilderness during the years 1929 to 1941. The first novel in the trilogy, Small Rocks Rising, won the 2003 Willa Award. Her second novel, Juniper Blue, was released in 2006 and the third, Moon Lily, was released in August of 2008. Lang’s short stories and poems have been published in magazines such as Red Rock Review, Iris, and The Raven Review, and she was awarded a 2007 Project Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts for her novel-in-progress, The Sawtooth Complex. Presently Faculty Emeritus at Yavapai College in Prescott, she founded and still directs the Southwest Writers Series. She was also director of the Hassayampa Institute for Creative Writing, which she founded in 1996.
MELANIE BISHOP has an MFA in Fiction from the University of Arizona. She’s published fiction and nonfiction in Glimmer Train, Georgetown Review, Greensboro Review, Florida Review, Valley Guide, Hospice Magazine, Puerto del Sol, Family Circle and UnderWire, an online magazine for women. She’s been awarded residencies at Ucross, Hedgebrook, Hambidge Center for the Arts, and the Eastern Frontier Society’s Norton Island retreat. She’s been nominated three times for inclusion in Pushcart Prize, and has been the recipient of a Tennessee Williams Scholarship to the Sewanee Writers Conference, and a screenwriting fellowship from the Chesterfield Writers’ Film Project, co-sponsored by Universal Studios and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment. The Makeover, a screenplay, placed in America’s Best Screenplay Competition. She’s recently completed a screenplay, titled Breath Study with Cranes, funded by a grant from the Wendy Fort Foundation for Dance, Literature and Film. She’s taught college-level creative writing for 18 years and is founder and editor of Alligator Juniper, Prescott College’s award-winning, national literary magazine.
LARAINE HERRING holds an MFA in Creative Writing and an MA in Counseling Psychology. Her stories and essays have been widely anthologized, and her non-fiction has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She is an author, teacher and certified Grief-Recovery Specialist. She has developed numerous workshops that use writing as a method for healing from grief and loss. Her first book, Monsoons: A collection of writing was published in 1999 by Duality Press. Her next book, Lost Fathers: How Women Can Heal from Adolescent Father Loss, was published in spring 2005 from Hazelden Press. Her novel, Lay My Sorrows Down, won the Barbara Deming Award for Women. Her latest book, Writing Begins With the Breath: Discovering Your Authentic Voice, was released by Shambhala Publications in 2007. Her forthcoming book, The Writing Warrior, will be available from Shambhala in summer 2010. She has written a memoir, Gathering Ghosts: The Making of a Writer, and a novel entitled Bone Dance. Her current projects include a novel titled Unbearable Compassion, a historical novel tentatively titled The Shadow in the White House, and a young adult novel, The Boy in the Walls. She teaches creative writing and English at Yavapai College in Prescott, Arizona.
INTERMEDIATE JUDGES
JIM NATAL, A Pushcart nominated poet, received his MFA in creative writing from Antioch University, Los Angeles. He currently teaches creative writing at Yavapai College, Prescott. He and his wife, Tania Baban, teach poetry and book art workshops individually and together. Natal’s many works appear in well recognized journals and anthologies. His next collection is titled, “Memory and Rain.”
NANCY OWEN NELSON earned her B.A. in French and English at Birmingham-Southern College and her M.A. and PhD in English at Auburn University. She is published in several academic journals and anthologies, and co-edited The Selected Letters of Frederick Manfred: 1932-1954. Nancy edited Private Voices, Public Lives: Women Speak on the Literary Life.
SUSAN WINGATE, a novelist, poet, playwright and journalist, has just received a publishing contract for the sequel to her novel, ”Bobby’s Diner,” which was short-listed for the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Since writing her mystery novel, “Of the Law,” Wingate keeps busy teaching at community colleges, attending writing conferences and updating her online newsletter, “Sincerely Susan.”
JAN CLEERE, award-winning author and historian, writes extensively about the desert southwest. Her latest book, Amazing Girls of Arizona: True Stories of Young Pioneers, is her third book. She received national acclaim for her book, Outlaw Tales of Arizona: True Stories of Arizona's Most Famous Robbers, Rustlers, and Bandits.
ELAINE JORDAN is a retired minister and English teacher. Her essays have appeared in South Loop Review, Alligator Juniper, Passages, Georgetown Review and others. One was nominated for a Pushcart by Arizona Authors Association. Excerpts from Mrs. Ogg Played the Harp have won awards from the San Francisco branch of American PEN Women, Bayou Magazine, and the California Writers Club.
KATHRYN WILKENS has lived in Spain, California and Arizona. She graduated from Purdue University and has a Masters degree in linguistics from California State University, Fullerton. Her nonfiction has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, Personal Journaling, Writers’ Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Romantic Homes, ByLine and Verbatim. Two essays have been included in anthologies.
MARY CARVELL BRAGG is a founding member of the Mad Women Poets. She as been a featured reader at venues and benefits in Northern Arizona. A former publications director for universities in Kentucky and Pennsylvania, she has authored two chapbooks, recorded a CD, and her poems have appeared in a number of literary journals.
SUSAN McELHERAN’s poetry, stories, and articles have been published in various journals, newspapers, anthologies, and even a gumball machine that dispenses poetry. Her science fiction novel, “Doubt Not the Stars,” was published in 2009 by Wings Press. Susan owns The Old Sage Bookshop in historic downtown Prescott, Arizona.