ELLISVILLE-Three Jones College students earned honors at the Mississippi Community College Creative Writing Association’s annual competition and workshop hosted at Holmes Community College. The competition included seven categories: Poetry, Fiction, Drama, Creative Nonfiction, Literary Essay, Best Professionally-Printed Journal and Best In-House Journal. Community college students participating in the competition could earn scholarships and honors, like Rickey Cole of Ovett, Kara Lowe of Mize and River Cade Howell of Soso. Accounting major, Howell was selected as the first place winner in the Literary Essay category for his essay, “A Mother’s Manipulation.”
Jones College English instructor Tim Morris explained, “River’s work was so impressive to the English Chairman at Belhaven University that he offered River a $2,000 scholarship. He noted Howell’s exceptional use of grammar and punctuation.”
Also submitting a literary piece that judges noticed was Jones College’s Ricky Cole with his creative nonfiction entry, “Come on Jack, Let’s Go,” which took third place honors. In the Poetry division, Kara Lowe’s entry, “On What I Dream About,” earned an honorable mention award.
Judges of the competition included Dr. Don Hubele, English professor and chair of the Belhaven University English Department; Paula Lambert, literary and visionary artist and author; Phyllis W. Seawright, assistant professor of communication/theater at Mississippi College; Michael Farris Smith, award-winning author, and Marshall Ramsey, author, syndicated-cartoonist, radio/television host and editor-at-large for Mississippi Today.
For more information about this year’s MCCCWA contest and awards, contact MCCCWA President Dr. Andrew Kelly at akelly@holmescc.edu.