Sixteen Cash Prizes Awarded from Nearly 100 Entries
MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. – Carteret Writers, a regional organization supporting writing and writers, named 16 contest winners at an awards dinner May 8. The event took place at Southern Salt Seafood Co. and Waterfront Restaurant in Morehead City.
Professional writers serve as judges in the annual contest, and authorship of the entries is kept confidential throughout the process.
Stanley Trice of New Bern, president of Carteret Writers, said that the contest drew close to 100 entries in five categories this year.
“This year all our winners happened to be from North Carolina, though we often have entries and winners from other states,” Trice said.
New Bern writers were among the winners this year. Jennifer Ragan Gillenwater was awarded first place in the Fiction category. Linda Burke placed second in the Writing for Children category and third in the nonfiction category. Suzannah Cockerille, a founding member of Nexus Poets of New Bern, won a third-place award in Poetry.
The 2019 winners and categories are as follows:
POETRY
1st Place Meganne Smith Cedar Point, NC
2nd Place Paloma Capanna Beaufort, NC
3rd Place Suzannah Cockerille New Bern, NC
HM Sue Won Williston, NC
FICTION
1st Place Jennifer Ragan Gillenwater New Bern, NC
2nd Place Paloma Capanna Beaufort, NC
3rd Place Deborah Doolittle Jacksonville, NC
HM Judith H. Armento Cape Carteret, NC
NON-FICTION
1st Place Alison Amorello Seibold Maysville, NC
2nd Place Carol Hartsoe Hubert, NC
3rd Place Linda G. Burke New Bern, NC
HM Joseph Mobley Swansboro, NC
FLASH FICTION
1st Place Jo Ann Hoffman Beaufort, NC
*The judge declined to name a second and third place.
HM Sharon Louise Howard Boone, NC
WRITING FOR CHILDREN
1st Place Veronica Krug Emerald Isle, NC
2nd Place Linda G. Burke New Bern, NC
*The judge declined to name a third place or honorable mention.
Judges for the 2019 contest were Anna Lena Phillips, Castle Hayne, NC, Poetry; Anne Kaylor, Harrisburg, NC, Fiction; Randy Foster, New Bern, NC, Non-Fiction; Ron Jackson, Durham, NC, Flash Fiction; and Joan Y. Edwards, Pineville, NC, Writing for Children. All judges have significant publications in their respective fields, and many are literary prize winners and finalists, as well as teachers and/or editors of journals, anthologies or journalism.
Chartered in 1983, Carteret Writers is a non-profit organization that seeks to promote the art of writing, cultivate camaraderie among writers, and collaborate with other organizations to foster an understanding and appreciation of writing and writers. Membership is $30 per year and is open to both practicing writers and anyone interested in the art of writing. To learn more about the organization and the contest, visit CarteretWriters.org or follow Carteret Writers on Facebook.
Submitted by: Jeanne Julian