MGCCC Students Win Big at Creative Writing Competition

The 2018 Student Creative Writing Competition was held at the Jackson County Campus in April. Winners were chosen from the short story, personal essay, fixed-verse poetry, free-verse poetry and critical-essay categories.

Winners: Short Story Category

Winners in the Short Story category are:

1st Place: “My Scars” by Makayla Cuevas

2nd Place: “First Flight” by Sidney E. Searles

3rd Place: “A Fractured Fairy Tale” by Megan McGee

Winners: Personal Essay Category

Personal Essay category winners are:

1st Place: “The Code Office Chronicles” by Paul Redmond

2nd Place: “Journal Report” by Stephen Donnelly

3rd Place Tie: “The House That Should Be Forgotten” by William Bishop and “Searching For My Sister” by Matthew Lindstrom

Winners: Fixed Verse Poetry Category

Winners in the Fixed Verse Poetry category are:

1st Place: “Feathered Majesty” by Elias Papalambros

2nd Place: “Light” by Samantha Rhodes

3rd Place: “A Hollow Plague” by Elias Papalambros

Winners: Free Verse Poetry Category

Free Verse Poetry category winners are:

1st Place: “Mary Had a Little Substance Abuse Problem” by Stephen Donnelly

2nd Place: “For a Midwinter Morning” by Jacob Bieker

3rd Place: “Your Cigarette Scorched My Throat But I Still Wear A Smile” by Kristin Lee

Winner: Critical Essay Category

One winner was chosen in the Critical Essay category, “Critical Analysis of Heidegger’s Being and Time” by Kevin Reinhardt, who won first place.

Winners’ works were published in Illumination, the college’s creative writing journal.

Cover of the 2018 creative writing journal Illumination
Cover of the state award-winning creative writing journal, the 2017 Illumination
Cover of the state award-winning creative writing journal, the 2017 Illumination

MGCCC Creative Writing Journal Wins Award

Additionally, the 2017 edition of Illumination won second place in the statewide contest competing against other M

ississippi community colleges. The Language Arts Department at the Perkinston Campus submitted the journal, and the winner was announced in April.

Responsibility for the journal’s publication switches between the campuses. The 2017 journal was compiled and published by the Perkinston Campus Language Arts Department. Original artwork is submitted by art students at each campus.

“This is a great honor for MGCCC to be recognized for their creative writing Involvement in the state,” said Dr. Gaye Winter, faculty organizer for the 2017 competition.

All creative writing programs at each campus should be commended for this recognition.


Want to experience creative writing at MGCCC yourself? Learn more about enrolling at MGCCC.

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