Literary Arts Winners
2024
Essay
First Place - “Invisible Big Brother” by Julie Cartner
Second Place - ”All the Oars Together” by Robert Dyer
Third Place - “Old Age is for the Birds” by Lola Jean Allen
Life Experience
First Place - “Breathing Lessons” by Sydnee Hart
Second Place - “The Silver Flute” by Chris Hannon
Third Place - “Honoring and Honored” at the Rosebud Wacipi
-by Sandy Benson
Poem
First Place - “Spring Came Regardless” by Deborah Johnson
Second Place - “Gone” by Mary Ricketson
Third Place - “Bat Flight” by Jane Sasser
Short Story
First Place - “When Legends Fall” by Robert Dyer
Second Place - “Hindsight” by Robert Roth
Third Place - “Smiley World” by Jeff Stonestreet
2023
Essay
First Place - "Discarded" by Robert Dyer
Second Place - "Standing Tall in the Sun" by Katherine Crain
Third Place - "Something to Talk About" by Julie Cartner
Honorable Mentions - "The Last ‘Ism’" by Rebecca Holder & "Art Therapy" by Brenda Ledford
Life Experience
First Place - "The Nursing Home" by Rebecca Holder
Second Place - "Big Dreams, Big Leagues" by Lenore Rittenhouse
Third Place - "Turkey Call" by Bruce Frazier
Honorable Mentions - "A Miracle, and Nothing Less" by Julie Cartner, "Endurance" by Robert Dyer, "Sharing My Voice" by Eric Mens, "Fortune Fish" by Donna Powers, "Lilac Ashes" by Lisa Roszler, & "Downsizing 101" by Jane Sasser
Poem
First Place - "The Gift" by Janice Kirk
Second Place - "The Fishy Tale" by Osyth Hilliard
Third Place - "Meeting For The First Time" by Valerie Vickers
Honorable Mentions - "Endless" by Melanie Hayes, "SEARCHING" by Virginia Hill, "De-Nesting" by Anne Kissel, & "After the Final Argument" by James Wayne
Short Story
First Place - "Hattie's Story" by Rita Hollifield
Second Place - "Bessie and Elmer" by Karen McComas
Third Place - "Could I Have This Dance?" by Julie Cartner
All entries are available to read here.
2022
Essay
First Place - "When a Tree Falls in the Forest..." by Katherine Crain
Second Place - "The Sound" by Julie Arciszewski
Third Place - "The Kazuri Bead" by Jane Birchfield
Honorable Mention - "Noise Pollution in Rowan County" by Paul Baker
Life Experience
First Place - "The Intervention" by Eric Mens
Second Place - "Separate But Equal" by Elsie Barnes
Third Place - "You Look Like a Farmer" by Evelyn Wool
Honorable Mention - "Take Me By Home" by Linda Farmer
Poem
First Place - "McBear McRed Goes to Bed" by Wade Hopkin
Second Place - "Ocean and River - A Venn Diagram Poem" by Lea Davis
Third Place - "This Spring" by Mary Coyne Wessling
Honorable Mention - "My Baby" by Janice Kirk
Short Story
First Place - "The Meanest Man in the County" by Evette Evans
Second Place - "The Course of True Love" by Robert Dyer
Third Place - "Unlikely Companions" by James Polk
All entries are available to read here.
2021
Essay
1st Place - "Butting Out on Coal Ash" by Nancy West-Brake
2nd Place - "2020: When We Walked Between Raindrops" by Linda Leighty
3rd Place - "Finding Podcasts in All the Wrong Places" by Mary Coyne Wessling
Life Experience
1st Place - "Incident at Drowning Creek" by John Shell
2nd Place - "First and Lasting Love" by Louanne Ewald
3rd Place - "The Lighter Side of Law Enforcement" by George Woollums
Poem
1st Place - "In My Time" by John Longbottom
2nd Place - "After COVID Came" by William Gramley
3rd Place - "Our Song" by Lorraine Bennett
Short Story
1st Place - "No Noise Like Silence" by Mack Staton
2nd Place - "VC" by Veronica Krug
3rd Place - "Murder Jan Wrote" by Janet Sady
All entries are available to read here.
2020
Essay
1st Place - “Four Hundred Years is a Long Time” by Nancy West-Brake
2nd Place - “When You're in a Jam, Play On” by Donna Davis
3rd Place - “Essay to Myself: Part II; All about the Personal Essayist” by Donald Gray
Life Experience
1st Place - “Dying of The Light” by Sydney Hart
2nd Place - “Love in the Time of Corona” by Lorraine Bennett
3rd Place - “Hurricane Hazel” by Brenda Wilson
Poem
1st Place - “Alzheimer's” by Sydney Hart
2nd Place - “Commitancillo“ by Susanne Duncan
3rd Place - “What I Would have Told You” by Anthony Abbott
Short Story
1st Place - “At Peace with Nature” by Eric Mens
2nd Place - “Bellowing” by Donna Davis
3rd Place - “Venereal Eclipse” by Jean Templeton
2019
1st Place Essay
2nd Place Essay
3rd Place Essay
1st Place Life Experience
2nd Place Life Experience
3rd Place Life Experience
1st Place Poem
2nd Place Poem
3rd Place Poem
1st Place Short Story
2nd Place Short Story
3rd Place Short Story
2018
1st Place Essay
2nd Place Essay
3rd Place Essay
1st Place Life Experience
2nd Place Life Experience
3rd Place Life Experience
1st Place Poem
2nd Place Poem
3rd Place Poem
1st Place Short Story
2nd Place Short Story
3rd Place Short Story