Scribendi submissions increase, 24 winners named
After featuring writers from all disciplines for nearly 20 years, the English department announced 24 winners of the 2012 USU Creative Writing Contest last week.
The winning entries, which include both writing and art, will be published in Scribendi, a literary magazine released annually.
The contest allowed entries from graduate and undergraduate students and was open to all majors. This year the contest garnered more than 180 entries.
Brock Dethier, an associate professor in the English department and judge for the poetry portion of the competition, said each category was critiqued blindly by three professors. Because judging writing is extremely objective, he said, having multiple judges allowed the contest to be well rounded.
“We balance each other out,” Dethier said.
Charles Waugh, director of the contest and the editor of Scribendi, said the contest has gotten bigger every year despite budget cuts. In the past the contest has offered some prizes with monetary value, but this year funding has gone exclusively to promotion of the contest and publication of the magazine, he said.
“We’ve had to streamline some things, and we’ve moved toward printing only a limited number of print copies and relying on electronic publishing to reach the many people in the USU community eager to read our students’ creative work,” Waugh said.
Dethier said 10 years ago the creative writing emphasis in the English department was nearly dead. When students realized there were job opportunities in the field, the program began to grow again, he said.
This growth, he said, has contributed to the growth of the contest in the past few years.
According to the English department website, the number of contest entries jumped 17 percent from last year and contestants came from 22 majors across campus. Waugh said though the English department sponsors the contest, the purpose is to help all students share their voices and not just those in his department.
Christina Fernandez, an intern for the contest, said the magazine is being offered in ebook format for the first time this year. In the past the English department has offered PDF copies, but the new format will be easier to access, she said.
“We want the students’ work to be seen by everybody,” Fernandez said. “It’s for everyone, not just for English majors.”
Brian Jackson, a senior majoring in creative writing, first entered the Creative Writing Contest three years ago. Though he said he didn’t place the first two years, this year he took home two first-place awards in the fiction undergrad and nonfiction undergrad categories.
His fiction entry, entitled “Scar Tissue,” is about a man trying to connect to his brother in the wake of his father’s death. He said the story shares strong ties to his own family and was driven by his personal interest in human relationships.
Getting published is important for English students, as well as students from other majors, he said.
“It’s a great first step for getting your work re-copied outside the classroom,” he said.
Since he began studying in the creative writing major a few years ago, he said he has seen an increase in size and interest.
“It’s become a lot more popular since I started doing it a couple years ago,” he said.
Jessica Colleen McDermott, a senior majoring in creative writing, also won two awards from the contest – a second-place poetry award and a third-place nonfiction award. She said the contest gives student writers confidence.
“It just goes to show there are creative students at USU,” she said. “It makes me feel like I left a mark here.”
This year’s edition of Scribendi will be released April 26. Its release coincides with Helicon West, a weekly poetry reading held at Citrus and Sage, located at Federal Avenue and 100 East. At the event, books will be purchasable for $10.
– allee.evensen@aggiemail.usu.edu