2005
West Virginia Writers Annual $4,500

Spring Writing Competition Winners


Appalachian Theme (61 entries, judged by June Berkley)

1st Place – "Freedom's Panzer" by William Haas (Monongalia)

2nd Place – "Bambi, Someone Has to Do It" by Norman Julian (Monongalia)

3rd Place – "...to a Flame" by Eric Fritzius (Greenbrier)

Honorable Mention, in order:

    • "Settled" by Natalie Sypolt (Preston)
    • "Dogs and Angels" by Kathy Furbee (Preston)
    • "Ruby Sam" by Joan McAteer (Kanawha)
    • "Maggie" by Kathy Furbee (Preston)
    • "Keeping Clean in the City of David" by Susan Johnson (Nicholas)
    • "Rob Johnson’s War" by Sally Brinkman, Berkley Springs (Morgan)
    • "The Appalachian Circus Sideshow" by Suzanne Samples (Ritchie)
Children's Books (56 entries, judged by Sherry Wilson)

1st Place – "Paper Covers Rock" by Marilyn Shank (Putnam)

2nd Place – "Fit for a Queen" by Pam Miller, Huntington (Jefferson)

3rd Place – "Where Is Grandfather" by Barbara June Appelgren (Jefferson)

Honorable Mention in order:

  • "When Granny Comes Around" by Nancy Ward Balderose (Pittsburgh, PA)
  • "Quest for the Time Travelers" by Craig Etchison (Mineral)
  • "The Epiphany of Homer Bledsoe" by Robert Elkins (Frankfort, KY)
  • "Misty the Freeway Foxhound" by Marilyn Sansom (Kanawha)

Emerging Writers Poetry (101 entries, judged by Chad L. Dayton)

1st Place – "My Phantom Umbilicus" by Honor McCain (Monongalia)

2nd Place – "driving route eighty-eight" by David J. Thomas (Ohio)

3rd Place – "I meet you full and searching" by Rachel R. Hyde (Wood)

Honorable Mention in order:

  • "Baptism" by Susan Eichelberger (Putnam)
  • "Hydrophobe" by Honor McCain (Monongalia)
  • "Old Folks Away From Home" by Susan Eichelberger (Putnam)
  • "Bathe" by Crystal A. White (Bluefield, VA)
  • "Maude's Apron" by Lawrence J. Chisholm (Hardy)
  • "Martin Luther King Day" by Tessa Evanosky, Hinton (Summers)
  • "Heart-Strings" by Donna Morningstar (Gilmer)

Emerging Writers Prose (120 entries, judged by Cathy Pleska)

1st Place – "Hens" by Beth Faulkner Carroll (Greenbrier)

2nd Place – "He Is My Sandman" by Justin Batton (Berkeley)

3rd Place – "God's Time" by Jann Hoke (Lincoln)

Honorable Mention in order:

    • "Sisters in Silence" by Daleen R. Berry (Monongalia)
    • "Mabel and the Garage Sale" by Barbara A. Whittington (Grove City, OH)
    • "Secrets of Survival" by Frank A. Fuerst (Jefferson)
    • "Misery Seeks Company" by Patti Lawson (Kanawha)
    • "Reunion:  A Timeout" by Jerry Blair (Harrison)
    • "Kinsman" by Elaine Breitenbach (Berkeley)


Humor (50 entries, judged by Suzette Standring)

1st Place – "Pavlov's Ol' Woman" by Terry McNemar (Harrison)

2nd Place – "Chronicles of Singledom" by Mary Claire Johnson (Kanawha)

3rd Place – "Beyond Blonde" by Karin Fuller (Putnam)

Honorable Mention in order:

    • "Where Has Good English Went?" by Katherine Leisering (Wood)
    • "The Anatomy of Language" by Delilah O'Haynes (Mercer)
    • "Oral History" by Hilary Hansen (Baltimore, MD)
    • "The Monkey" by Danny Forinash (Kanawha)
    • "Nation Protects Its Poets" by Mary Lucille DeBerry (Monongalia)
    • "On Cloning" Susan Karickhoff (Upshur)

Nonfiction (71 entries, judged by Bonnie Brechbill)

1st Place – "The Night of the Boa" by Joe Sigler (Tallahassee, FL)

2nd Place – "Resignation" Geoffrey C. Fuller (Putnam)

3rd Place – "Secrets of Survival" by Frank A. Fuerst (Jefferson)

Honorable Mention, in order:

    • "Bomb Drill" by Anna Smucker (Harrison)
    • "Magic, Madness, and Multiple Sclerosis" by Geoffrey C. Fuller (Putnam)
    • "The Pattern of Snow" by by Geoffrey C. Fuller (Putnam)
    • "Ester bat Shmuel-Yosif v' Branah" by Tovli "Linnie" Simiryan (Kanawha)
    • "When Kanneta Saw Jesus" by Kelley Rae Ingalls (Berkeley)
    • "Three Words" by Karin Fuller (Putnam)

Novels (61 entries, judged by Marian Clover)

1ST Place – "Walks Alone" by Sandi G. Rog (Netherlands)

2ND Place – "Angel In Time" by Randolph S. Stewart (Ohio)

3RD Place – "The Photograph" by Rebecca Mathews (Kanawha)

Honorable Mention:

    • "No Time for Fear" by Geoffrey C. Fuller (Putnam)
    • "Born Again Nation" by Paul Epstein (Kanawha)
    • "Dread Mountain Curse" by Joan Stewart (Pleasants)  
    • "A Letter from Flesherville" by Joe Sigler (Florida)
    • "The Lies That Bind" by Karin Fuller (Putnam)
    • "Your Planet or Mine?" by Marjorie Thelen (Virginia)

Poetry (170 entries, judged by Jennifer Bosveld)

1st Place – "The Resurrection of Osceola" by Robert Head (Greenbrier)

2nd Place – "A Black Umbrella" by Susan Johnson (Nicholas)

3rd Place – "Novitiates" by Don Narkevic (Lewis)

Honorable Mention in order:        

    • "Remotely, a Red Star, Our Most Fiery God" by Susan Sheppard (Wood)
    • "Glamoury" by Susan Sheppard (Wood)
    • "Encounter" by Llewellyn McKernan (Cabell).
    • "Preparation" by Sarah Kezman (Jefferson)


Scripts (23 entries, judged by Billie K. Harman and David Selby)

1ST Place – "Bleeding in the Dark" by Jeremiah Munsey (Monongalia)

2nd Place – "Mossy Smoot" by Nelson Chipman (Brooklyn, NY)

3rd Place – "Just South of Innocent" by Bob McCarty (Kanawha)

Honorable Mention in order:

    • "Experiment" by Hamed Abuthina (United Arab Emirates)
    • "Doormat of Desire" by Mike Farley (Raleigh)
    • "In Golden Pond" by Karin Fuller (Putnam)
    • "Bless Her Heart" by Sherry Bishop (NY City)


Short Story (92 entries, judged by Mona K. Helper)

1ST Place – "The Danger Zone" by Helen Pollack Becker (Jefferson)

2nd Place – "Supper Stop" by Dale Heaster (Monongalia)

3rd Place – "Left Hand of God" by Jeanne Wilson (Calhoun)

Honorable Mention in order:

    • "Dusty's Fault" by Sandi Ward (Monongalia)
    • "Cleaning Clocks" by Jann Hoke (Lincoln)
    • "The Accidental Arsonist" by Laura Leigh Morris (Marion)
    • "The Potting Shed" by Phyllis Truman (Jackson)
    • "Lydia's Biscuits" by Joan McAteer (Kanawha)
    • "Keokuk" by Molly McClennen (Cabell)
    • "One of God's Creatures" by Fay Thompson (Jackson)


Young Writers Poetry (49 entries, judged by Ann Gasser)

1st Place – "Sudan" by Paula Kaufman (Kanawha)

2nd Place – "Reflections" by Brianna Davis (Harrison)

3rd Place – "Who is Freedom?" by Lindsey Maxon (Arlington, TX)

Honorable Mention in order: 

    • "Serene Sanctuary" by Kerry Hensley (Wood)
    • "Red Rose Parking Lot" by Claire Berlin (Lewis)
    • "Winter Sound" by Kerry Hensley (Wood)
    • "Southwest" by Lindsey Maxon (Arlington, TX)
    • "Finger Painting" by Brandy Midkiff (Mercer)
    • "The Desert, the Same" Lindsey Maxon (Arlington, TX)


Young Writers Prose (47 entries, judged by Karin Fuller)

1st Place – "Imaginary Friends" by Alicia Wright (Pleasants)

2nd Place – "Freaks, Inc." by Lindsey Maxon (Arlington, TX)

3rd Place – "Happy Being Different" by Claire Berlin (Lewis)

Honorable Mention in order:

    • "Comrade Fluffy" by Kevan O'Rear (Harrison)
    • "Out of the Rain" by Lindsey Maxon (Arlington, TX)
    • "Running Rampant" by Lindsey Maxon (Arlington, TX)
    • "Star Armada" by Lucas McKeown (Cabell)

WVW 2005 Writer Wall Winners:

 

Poetry:

1 – Jann Hoke, “When My Mother Died”

2 – Terri Engnoth, “Dog Leashes”

3 – Liz Wells, “Shiver”

 

Prose:

1 – Betsy Pascucci, “DA”

2 – Gil Howard, “The Crown of Burrs”

3 – Tara Cooper, “Irony”

 

WVW 2005 People’s Choice Winners:

 

Friday Poetry (titles were not provided):

1 – Ilene Evans

2 – Annie Corley

3 – Sara Kezman

 

Friday Prose:

1 - Susan Bedwell, "A Million Miles from Monday"

2 - Susan DeVan, "All My Children"

3 - Katy Helper, "Preacher"

 

Saturday Poetry:

1 – Rob Merritt, “Music Lesson”

2 – Katy Helper, “Ten Year Father”

3 – Rhonda White, “No Mercy”

 

Saturday Prose:

1 – John Mugaas, “Making Ends Meet in Lewisburg”

2 – Patricia Woodard, “Country Store”

3 – Eric Fritzius, “Talkin’ Baked Goob Toxic Bread Blues”

 

Youth:

1 – Alicia Wright, “A Bed Somewhere”

2 – Scarlet Sheppard, “Fingerprints”

2 – April Hall, “The Hardest Thing”

2 – Stacy Tritt, “Rebels”