By Mandi Enger
Sharing their talents beyond the campus, two Nevada State College (NSC) students and one alumnus were awarded in a local writing contest organized by the Henderson Writers Group. The students who independently submitted poems and short stories were each awarded complimentary entrance to either the full or partial Las Vegas Writers Conference scheduled for April 19 21, 2012.
“I love to see our students show their creativity both inside and outside their regular coursework and I am very proud of Elsa, Deuvall and Audrey,” stated Gregory Robinson, assistant professor of English at NSC. These students are making headway in their professional development and I look forward to where they take their education next.
The non-profit organization, Henderson Writers Group, has been sponsoring a student writing contest for middle school, high school and college level students for the last five years. One-on-one workshops, seminars, along with networking opportunities are available for writers of all ages during the annual conference.
I really enjoyed my study of modern and post-modern American poetry at NSC and decided to give the contest a shot, said first place winner and recent NSC graduate, Elsa Barnhill. I am really looking forward to the conference; specifically, the workshop on submitting my work to online/e-zine publications.
Barnhill created her poem titled El Soñador (Remember) to honor the storytelling of her grandfather.
My passion is children’s literacy, and, in the future, I’d love the chance to work as a youth librarian in order to help kids learn to love reading, finished Barnhill.
Deuvall Dorsey, a freshman in the Visual Media program at NSC learned about the conference and writing contest through a flyer in the college library.
My short story titled An English Dandy I May Be was initially written for my History 101 class as a historical adaptation of the infamous story about the boy who cried wolf, said Dorsey. My goal at the conference is to learn how my creative writing can be used to expand my career.
Dorsey, an aspiring television producer, received a second-place award in the college level fiction category.
The third NSC award recipient, Audrey Balzart, is a member of the Henderson Writers Group and received second place recognition in the members category.