Four McHenry County College students won awards in three different categories, including two first place awards, at the recent 2010 Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference Writers Festival at Morton College in Cicero.
The MCC awardees included: Veronica Gockenbach, of Lakewood, first place for her short fiction, “The Key and the Sword;” Michelle Kaden, of Harvard, second place in creative non-fiction for “Shoebox Racism;” Lynn Burghart, of Crystal Lake, honorable mention for her creative non-fiction, “The Sweater;” and Jennifer Irocky, of Lakemoor, first place for her poetry titled “The Trade.”
“The level of writing at the Skyway Competition is extremely competitive,” said Mark Waters, MCC English instructor. “Year after year MCC wins or places in more than one category. Taking first in two of the four categories while placing second and honorable mention in another is a remarkable achievement. The overall achievement here is something to be proud of,” he said.
Other MCC writing finalists included: Poetry: Tanya Montgomery of Crystal Lake, Aliena Rogers of Marengo, Jennifer Roth of Wonder Lake and Jordan Salinas of Woodstock; Short Fiction: Sabrina Balabuszko of Crystal Lake, and Jennifer Roth; Creative Non-Fiction: Kaitlyn Daily of Crystal Lake, Megan Fayer of Crystal Lake, and Jenni Lebrecht of Wonder Lake.
The works of 80 students were judged by professionals in the areas of poetry, creative non-fiction, short fiction and drama. Carlos Cumpian, editor of March Abrazo Press and noted Latino poet, was the keynote speaker. Authors Maggie Kast and Alexis Pride were the judges in creative non-fiction and short fiction, respectively, and Chicago playwright James Sherman was the drama judge.
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