From the Pamlico Writers Group

 

The Pamlico Writers Group and the Beaufort County Arts Council held an awards ceremony on March 21 at the Turnage Theater to announce winners of the third annual 2015 Pamlico Writers Competition. The event followed the close of the 2015 Pamlico Writers Conference.

Winners in the fiction category were: first place and honorable mention, Alison Stuart, of Greenville, for “The Combination” and “The Homeowner’s Guide to the Heartbreak of the Hoard”; second place, Heather Bell Adams of Raleigh for “L’Orangerie.”

In the nonfiction category: first place, Michael Worthington, of Elizabeth City, with “Ayden Racial Unrest”; second place, Polly Frank of New Bern “The Small ‘c’”; and honorable mention, Debra Kornegay, of Winterville, “The Girl who Threw Her Books.”

The poetry category: first place, Diane De Echeandia, “Spring Melt”; second place, Nancy Clark, of Burlington, “Mourning Dove”; honorable mention, Lane Schroeder, of Chocowinity, “Before the Street Light”. Additional honorable mentions awarded by the poetry judge: Diane De Echeandia with “Waiting”, William Meggs with “Top Down”, and Deborah Doolittle, of Jacksonville, with “Afghan”.

High school category: Courtney Staton, of Pitt County Schools, won the Scholarship Prose Award of $250 cash with “Letter from a Gifted Kid”. Anne Blyth Davis, of Swan Quarter, won the Scholarship Poetry award of $250 cash with her narrative poem “Orbit”. Kayla Wyrick, of Pitt County Schools, won a special honorable mention with “Strength”.

The adult categories carried a first-place award of $100, second-place award of $50, and honorable mention of local merchant gift certificates.

The annual Pamlico Writers Competition places emphasis on creative writing in the high school and continuation of writing for adults. It is sponsored by NC Arts Council, Beaufort County Arts Council, Potash Corp and Pamlico Writers Group.

You may read the winning competition entries at www.pamlicowritersconference.org. and view photos of the event on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/pwconference15 and blog www.pamlicowritersgroup.wordpress.com.