Winners of the 2010 Writers Studio Literary Contest

Congratulations to the First Place winners in our fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry contests:

Fiction First Place--Kali Fajardo for "Remedies"

Kali Fajardo was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. She received her B.A. in English and minored in Chicano Studies from Metropolitan State College.  She says her writing is greatly influenced by her grandparents, aunties, uncles, mother, father, and six siblings. Hailing from a diverse range of cultures from Chicano to Filipino, Kali’s writing reflects her unique place in the world.

 Judge’s comment:  From the first sentence I knew I was in good, confident hands. Deeply moving without any sentimentality whatsoever,    this story shines. 

--Janis Hallowell, Fiction Judge

Nonfiction First Place--Joyce Deming for “Of Birds and Bees and Spiders Too” 

When she isn't hiking the Colorado mountains with her husband and Border Collie, Joyce Deming works as a public librarian. She writes a monthly book review column for the library's newsletter, allowing her to foist her favorite books on the unsuspecting public. She and her husband own a small "farmette" near the foothills west of Denver and raise sheep and ducks, mostly for the Border Collie's entertainment. In her spare time, she likes to read and create fiber art.

Judge’s comment: “Of Birds and Bees and Spiders Too” is a masterful exploration of a vital issue in ecology, the naturalist’s struggle between empathy and objectivity. It blends personal narrative, close observation, and scientific reflection. The issues raised are well-handled and the narrative elements add a vital immediacy to the philosophizing. The author challenges the reader in the same way that she feels herself challenged by what she knows and sees. It is an essay that could help hikers not only experience the trail but also think about it.

 --Robert Root, Nonfiction Judge

Poetry First Place--Claudia Van Gerven for "Grandma in the Hen House"

Claudia Van Gerven lives in Boulder, Colorado, where she teaches writing.  Her poems have been published in a number of journals and magazines including Prairie Schooner, Calyx, and The Lullwater Review. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and has been nominated for the Push Cart Prize.  Her chapbook, The Ends of Sunbonnet Sue, won the 1997 Angel Fish Press Prize and her full-length manuscript, The Spirit String, has been a finalist in several national contests.

Judge’s comment:  The sacred is everywhere in this self-assured and beautifully-rendered poem—even in the “dung-filled light” of the chicken coop, even in the “small woman” killing and plucking a chicken.  Unflinching, exact and redemptive all at once, this poem really delivers. Bravo!

The winners won $250 and publication in our literary contest chapbook. They were our distinguished guests at the Writers Studio April Literary Festival where they read their work to a wonderfully appreciative crowd.

Second Place Prizes

2nd place winners were also our distinguished guests at the festival and will be published in our literary contest chapbook.

Fiction, 2nd place

Mary M. Bartek, "That's No Lie"

Mary Marron Bartek is the author of Funerals and Fly Fishing, a middle grade novel published by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers in 2004 and released in paperback by Squarefish in 2009.  To date her work, including short stories, humor and family essays, and articles has been published in over forty publications including Woman’s World and Christian Science Monitor.

Judge’s comment:  An original premise and a distinct narrative voice make this story compulsively readable.

Nonfiction, 2nd place

Jan Peebly, "Sniffles"

Jan Peebly is a retired nurse-midwife, who lives in Littleton, Colorado with her husband, Russell Frum. She spent twenty years in the military and forty as a nurse, then a nurse-midwife. One of her most rewarding experiences in the Air Force was her deployment to Iraq, right before she retired in 2007. She is currently majoring in Creative Writing at ACC and having a ball; taking all the arts and humanities courses that she longed to take when she was on the "paper chase" to get a Master's degree in Nursing.

Judge’s comment: “Just a Sniffle” is a thoughtful and moving personal narrative, very observant and fully realized, well paced and sharp in its understated understanding of the forces that work on us in our lives. The author is honest with herself and with her reader and the life lesson that grows out of the suspense is touching and candid. More significantly, the author makes us live through her experience with her so that her decision at the end is almost the reader’s decision as well.

Poetry, 2nd place

Carolyn Evans Campbell, "In the Zocolo"

Carolyn Evans Campbell, a teacher, writer and artist, is a 4th generation Coloradan.  She has published four books of poetry, including Tattooed Woman, which received the Colorado Book Award. She has received six Top Hand Awards from the Colorado Authors League for poetry and a full-length play with music called The Ballad of Hallelujah House. In 2004, her first novel, Fireweed, A Woman's Saga in Gold Rush America, was a finalist for the Willa Literary Award, and again in 2009 for the Colorado Book Award. Carolyn teaches poetry and memoir in Evergreen and the region and continues writing and oil painting.

Judge’s comment: This is a beautifully re-imagined creation myth of a poem, in which God makes a guest appearance as a strolling minstrel with a lolling tongue, one sock, and a one-word song: Vida! Vida! Vida!  Magical, delicious with sensory detail, and steeped in compassion, this poem celebrates life in all its forms.

2010 Literary Contest Finalists

Fiction Finalists: Jane Binns, Kathy Conde, Karisha Harlan

Poetry Finalists: Robert King (Honorable Mention), Janet LeJeune (Honorable Mention),

Erika Christiansen, Douglas Crago, Lisa Hardman, Jessica Joyner, Andrea O’Brien,

Jonathan Russell Seibert

 Nonfiction Finalists: Nonfiction: Carolyn Evans Campbell (Honorable Mention),

Erika Christiansen, Charles Coleman, Katie Curry, Ron Lloyd.

Look for details on our Literary Contest 2011 in the Fall