Bulletin News
02/28/2012
Kevin Phoenix, a sophomore communication studies major, has won top honor in SUNY Cortland’s annual writing contest.
Phoenix, of Liverpool, N.Y., was recognized for “In Weeks Following,” a poem he wrote on his own. He is one of seven undergraduate students and one graduate student to receive $100 each for their winning entries in the 2011 College Writing Contest.
Phoenix will accept his award at the College’s Honors Convocation on Saturday, April 21. All winning entries will be published in a booklet dedicated to the college writing awards. The students will present their work at Transformations: A Student Research and Creativity Conference on Wednesday, April 18.
This year marks the 13th anniversary of the contest sponsored by the College Writing Committee, a group of faculty members from a range of departments across campus. The campus received more than 200 submissions of creative and academic work for the competition and the work was judged on superior thinking, originality and insight and excellent command of language. All submissions written for courses during spring, summer and fall of 2011 were eligible.
Besides Phoenix, award recipients include:
• Collin Anderson, an adolescence education: English graduate student from Ithaca, N.Y., for “A Seriously Charming Sociopath,” written for the Global Multicultural Literature course taught by Emmanuel Nelson, a professor in the English Department.
• Jacqueline Carlson, a junior professional writing major from Southold, N.Y., for “Flamingo Tongue,” written for the Advanced Creative Writing course taught by Victoria Boynton, an associate professor in the English Department.
• Justin Curry, a junior professional writing major from Mount Vision, N.Y., for “Downs Riley,” written for the Writing Fiction course taught by Boynton.
• Kaitlin Doyle, a junior professional writing major from Woodmere, N.Y., for “ Straight Back Chair,” submitted for the Writing Creative Nonfiction course taught by Lorraine Berry, the project director of NeoVox, the College’s international online student magazine.
• Brennan Gerlach, a junior biology major from Fishkill, N.Y., for “Life History and Distribution of Blanding’s Turtles in New York State,” prepared for the Special Studies in Biology course taught by Theresa Curtis, an assistant professor in the Biological Studies Department.
• Bryanna Grillo, a sophomore economics major from Brewster, N.Y., for “Humans’ Ability to Harm So Many,” submitted for the Writing Studies II course taught by Mario Hernandez, a lecturer in the English Department. Grillo's work also received the Composition Award, which will be presented at the Honors Convocation.
• Robyn Macy, a junior professional writing major from North Bellmore, N.Y., for “How to Find a Major,” written for the Rhetoric course taught by Boynton.
The 2012 contest will accept papers written for courses offered during spring, summer and fall 2012. Eligible papers will be judged in the following categories:
• Academic writing (papers based on sources or other data)
• Fiction (short stories)
• Poetry
• Scripts
• Creative nonfiction (memoirs, personal essays or travel writing)
• Media (websites, blogs or video)
Students may also submit writing that did not originate in a course taken at SUNY Cortland. Judges place emphasis on writing content. Submissions should contain a minimum of 500 words of written text. The deadline for the 2012 contest is Friday, Dec. 21.
For additional information, contact Professor of English Mary Lynch Kennedy at (607) 753-2086.