For Immediate Release:

Date:                        May13, 2013
Contact:            Pamela Simonson
Phone:                        (443) 418-4568
Fax:                        (443) 418-4153
Email:                         hocopolitso@yahoo.com

Howard County Students Recognized for Literary Achievement

For thirty-two (32) years the HOward COunty POetry and LITerature SOciety (HoCoPoLitSo) has awarded book prizes to the winners of its All County Writing Competition, and honored students nominated by their teachers for Promise and Achievement in Language Arts. To foster lifelong reading habits and a love of literature, HoCoPoLitSo presents book awards with personalized bookplates.  The tradition continued this year as HoCoPoLitSo board members made presentations at all Howard County public high school honors assemblies for seniors.

The eleven creative writing winners were Sarika Reddy (Centennial), Melanie Zheng (Centennial), Darby Dicks (Mt. Hebron), and Sarah Owoeye (Mt. Hebron) in the personal essay category; Justen Williams (Homewood), Lord Magloire (Homewood), Jennifer Baik (Centennial) and Brianna Richardson (Centennial) in the poetry category; and in the short story category, Elizabeth George (Mt. Hebron), Jennifer Piegols (Mt. Hebron), and Genevieve Ferris (Mt. Hebron). This year’s judges were Patricia Van Amburg, poet and professor, Howard Community College, Heidi Vornbrock Roosa, Adjunct Instructor, Howard Community College, Sarah Cotner, Media and Resource Consultant.

In addition, twenty-five students were chosen by their English Departments to receive HoCoPoLitSo’s Promise and Achievement Award in Language Arts.  The honorees were: Kjerstin Burdiek, Michael Makar (Atholton) Sarika Reddy, Amanda Shirona Lee (Centennial), Jessica Smith, Parker James (Glenelg), Samuel Aubin, Kelly Elaine Dombek (Hammond),  Lord Magloire,  Justen Williams (Homewood Center), Megan Bishop,  Kevin Whitehead (Howard), Charlie Moran, Miranda Ramey  (Long Reach), Kaleb Maroney,  Emma Warman (Marriotts Ridge), Meiling Liu, Andrew Wang (Mt. Hebron), Jackie Galloway, Isabelle S. Ferraro (Oakland Mills), Christina Alms, Nsikan-Abasi Akpan (Reservoir),  Erin Smedley (River Hill), Erin Johnson, Sara Mannon (Wilde Lake).

Thirty-six students in all received books by such outstanding poets and writers as: Sherman Alexie,  Sandra Beasley, Lucille Clifton, Michael Dirda, Emma Donoghue, Oscar Hijuelos, Edward P. Jones, Laura Lippman, Grace Paley, Francine Prose, and Colm Tóibín.  HoCoPoLitSo has been dedicated to enlarging the audience for contemporary poetry and literature through public readings, special events, writer-in-residence visits, and The Writing Life, a cable television series produced at Howard Community College, since 1974 and now available on YouTube.

HoCoPoLitSo is supported by the Howard County Arts Council through a grant from Howard County government, the Maryland State Arts Council through the State of Maryland and the Department of Business and Economic Development, the Columbia Film Society,  the Columbia Foundation,  the Jim & Patty Rouse Charitable Foundation,  the Rouse Company Foundation, and Friends of HoCoPoLitSo.

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Click here for the press release in pdf format.