The English program of the Cameron University Department of Communication, English and Foreign Language has honored several students for their creative writing.
Mitchell Dufrin, Lawton, was honored with the first-place award in the Leigh Holmes Prize for Creative Nonfiction for his essay “Accepting the Trauma.” Three students tied for second place and were recognized as honorable mentions: Baily Boydston, Randlett, for “The Most Beautiful Moment of Life,” Taylor Jones, Elgin, for “Anxiety the Savior: Talk about a Savior to Talk about Suicide,” and Ryan Shows, Lawton, for “The Lonesome Crowded West.” Cameron English faculty members Dr. William Carney, Leah Chaffins, Dr. John Hodgson and Dr. John G. Morris judged content submissions. The late Holmes, professor emeritus of English, established the contest in 2002 to encourage Cameron students to write creative nonfiction well.
“Doorstop,” a poem by Kayla Russell, Altus, won first place in the John G. Morris Poetry Prize competition. Elizabeth Abigal McMains, Marlow, received second place for her poem, “Parosmia,” and Stacy Pifer, Fletcher, won third place for her poem, “Frozen Race of Time.” Honorable mentions were awarded to Thomas Anthony Juarez, Sterling, for “Sunrise in Oaxaca;” Shows for “Marc and Kali,” and Wyn Jessie, Lawton, for “Hormone Replacement.” Katherine Hoerth, Assistant Professor of English at Lamar University, was the judge. Morris, a professor of English, established the contest, which is open to all Cameron undergraduates, in 2006 to honor his mother, the late Marian Cary Miles Morris-Zepp.
“Accepting the Trauma” and “Doorstop” will be published in “The Gold Mine,” Cameron’s literary arts magazine.
###
#22-055
