Denise Gess Literary Award

2018 Denise Gess Literary Awards Announcement

Attention all Rowan creative writers!
 
The Department of Writing Arts in the College of Communication and Creative Arts is pleased to announce the 2018 Denise Gess Literary Awards.
 
The competition, named in honor of the late Writing Arts Associate Professor Denise Gess, offers cash awards in poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction categories Those award amounts – newly increased for 2018 – are $200 for first place, $100 for second and $50 for third.
 
All currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students in good standing at Rowan University are eligible to submit their original work for consideration by 4 p.m., Friday, March 9, 2018. Students may enter in more than one genre.  Click on the following links for more details:
 
Rowan University Award for Poetry 
 
Edward J. Czwartacki Award for Short Fiction
 
Pat B. Tweedie Award for Creative Nonfiction
 
Paper copies of these guidelines also are available in the Writing Arts reception area on the fourth floor of Victoria Hall.
 
Winners will be posted online during the week of March 26, 2018, and a public reading and reception for winners will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 2 at the Rowan Art Gallery, 301 High Street.
 
For more information, please contact Writing Arts professor Lisa Jahn-Clough at jahn-clough@rowan.edu

2018 Denise Gess Literary Award Winners

Edward Czwartacki Prize for Fiction

First Place
When She Asks to Go Home-- Tara O’Day

Second Place 
Unidentified-- Daniel DeLuise

Third Place
Strong For Us-- Dylann Cohn-Emery

Honorable Mention
Coulrophobia--Daniel McGilloway
 
 
Rowan University Prize for Poetry

First Place
Red--Morgan Douglas

Second Place 
Bloom and Decay--Daniel McGilloway

Third Place
Meraki--Vasiliki Dinoulis
 
Honorable Mention 
Procrastinators, Pyromaniacs and Other Patron Saints of Holocen--Tara Lonsdorf
Far Away Friends--Kylee Bagley
Ghosts I Carry--by Laura Kincaid
 
 
 Pat B. Tweedie Prize for Creative Nonfiction

First Place 
Caught in the Intersection--Alex Phillips

Second Place
Haunted--Rachel Barton

Third Place
Fine--Emily Strauser

Honorable Mention
An Ode to an Oak Table--Alix McKinstry
Music—A Double Sided Portrait--Justina Addice 


Judges
Megan Atwood, Ed Briant, Robert Evans, Joan Hanna, Lisa Jahn-Clough, Tim Zatzariny

2016 Denise Gess Literary Awards

 Edward Czwartacki Prize for Fiction
First Place
Fat Loser—Michael Comoroto

Second Place
Nightmare in Suburbia—Colin Boyle

Third Place
How the Seasons Changed—Stephanie Daley

Honorable Mention
Selene—Mark Ackerman
Fire Sucks—Joe Jordan


Rowan University Prize for Poetry
First Place
Tuckahoe Road—Robert Henhaffer

Second Place
Nodus Tollens—Vasiliki Dinoulis 

Third Place
Gloucester County—Jennifer Martin

Honorable Mention
Doublethink—Ethan Stoetzer
Then Brutus Spoke of Honor—Joe Jordan


Pat B. Tweedie Prize for Creative Nonfiction
First Place
Eyes of the Storm—Alicia Rodriguez

Second Place
Never Ending—Susette Brooks

Third Place
Uncle Jab and the House of Pain—Daniel DeLuise

Honorable Mention
My Brother’s Ashes—Michael Comoroto
A Perfectionist’s Playbook—Liz Ditzel
Calendar—Rachel Barton 
Now I Know—Nah’Ja Washington

2014 Denise Gess Literary Awards

The Edward Czwartacki Award for Fiction
 
First Place
            Katelyn Sullivan, '15, "Harlequin"
Second Place
            Regina McMenamin-Lloyd, '15, "The Scarlett Splinter"
Third Place
            Kristina Forest, '14, "As of Yet…"
 
The Pat B. Tweedie Award for Nonfiction
 
First Place
            Ojas Patel, '14, "Your New Face"
Second Place
            Joe DiCarlo, '14, "Six Days in the Absence of Life"
Third Place
            Alfred J. Dansbury, Sr., COGS, "Making Do"
Honorable Mention
            Carol Magrino, MAW, "Subscribing"
 
The Rowan University Prize for Poetry (for collections)
 
First place
            Joe Jordan, '17, "Observations and a Cozy Chair"
Second Place
            Stephanie Kohler, '14, "Stuck on the Cusp"
Third Place
            Regina McMenamin-Lloyd, '15, "Nostaligia Poetry"
Honorable Mention (for individual poems):
            Ojas Patel, '14, "How to Make Samosas"; "Mom's Grief Upon a Return to India"
            Dave Vogtman, '15, "Dishonest Abe"
            Ethan Stoetzer, '16, "The Killing Tree"
            Daniel DeLuise, '16, "Afterlife"
            Laurie Toich, '15, "How to Be a Good Parent"
            Vincent Lanni, '14, "Write in Color”

2012 Denise Gess Literary Awards at Rowan University

The Edward J. Czwartacki Award for Short Fiction
1st - "The Incisor" - Katelyn Catinella, Class of 2012
2nd - "Cedric the Great" - Kristina Forest, Class of 2014
3rd - "The Path" - Christopher Cullen, Class of 2012
Honorable Mention
"The Cemetery Watchers" - Alex Grover, Class of 2014
"The Couch in the Basement" - Samantha Brown, second year MAW

The Pat. B. Tweedie Award for Creative Nonfiction
1st - "Atop the Camel's Hump" - Casey Otto, Class of 2012
2nd - "The Bridge" - Lacey Bouchard, Class of 2013
3rd - "Hate Island" - Samantha Brown, second year MAW program
Honorable Mention
"The Hike" - Kayla Ewing, Class of 2013
"The Great Blue Circle" - Natalie Busarello, Class of 2013

Rowan University Prize for Poetry
1st - "Have You Seen Me?" - Joe McGee, second year MAW program
2nd - "The Devil We Know (and other Folklore from the Garden State)" -Samantha Brown, second year MAW program
3rd - "Authentic Philosophy" - Rebecca Force, second year MAW program
Honorable Mention
"Carpooling to Game Night" - Jayne Dzuback, Class of 2012
"Obsessive Love Disorder" - Regina McMenamin Lloyd, Class of 2015
"dream-walking" - Meghan O'Donnell, second year MAW program
"Resignation" - Anita Sipala, Class of 2012

2010 Denise Gess Literary Awards

The Rowan University Prize for Poetry
First Place: "Five Poems" by Steven Harbold
Second Place: "Stories I Tell Myself" by Katherin Fitzpatrick
Third Place, a three-way tie:
"In Stitches" by Kate Peterson
"The Natural World" by Ryan Wenzel
"Form Studies" by Jonathan Wood
Honorable Mentions (for individual poems)
"Phase II" by Samantha Brown
"Waves of Love" by Sarah Kasama
"Is It Better?" by Rebecca Force
"Iron Oxide" and "Personal Poem #6" by Jayne Dzuback

The Pat B. Tweedie Award for Creative Nonfiction
First Place: "Solitude" by Melanie Pauker
Second Place: "You Are a Runner, and I Am My Father's Son" by Bill Elenbark
Third Place: "Fear and Loathing on the Road in South Jersey: The Fall of the Heads" by Justin Eric Totora
Honorable Mentions:
"Inked" by Jackie Cassidy
"The Homerun Heard Round the Neighborhood" by Steven Harbold
"Accordian Bookcases" by Sarah Kasama

The Edward J. Czwartacki Award for Fiction
First Place: "Hondo" by Jackie Cassidy
Second Place Tie: "The Prize" by Hayley Van Amburg
"Cigarettes Will Kill You" by Bill Elenbark
Third Place: "Death's Room" by Sam Dodge
Honorable Mentions:
"Let the Gun Do the Talking" by Steve Smith
"You'll Have to Learn to Love Me the Way I Love You" by Anthony Dragonetti

Spring 2008 Hollybush Writing Competition
First Place, Frank Paladino
Second Place, Kevin Ialeggio
Third Place, Gary Rettberg

Rowan University Literary Awards (Click on the links for .pdfs of the winning entries.)
Edward J. Czwartacki Award for Fiction
2008, First Place, "Echoes," by Bill Stewart, MAW program
Second Place, "I Need a Bike," by Joe Carlough, 2009
Third Place, tie, "Translation," by George Jacob, MAW program; "Things that Can't be Seen," by David Brennan, MAW program
Honorable Mention, "Kuwait, Briefly," by Kamala Lane, 2008; "The Heart of the Storm," by Daniel Paganelli, 2008; "Rabbi," by Steven R. Levine, 2008

R.U. Award for Poetry
2008, First Place, "Snapshots from the Field," by Jonathan Guito, 2008
Second Place, "Poems 2008," by Katherin Fitzpatrick, 2010
Third Place, "The Homewrecker's Handbook," by Justin Davis, 2010
Honorable Mention, individual poems, "Hunger," "Pay to Play" by Janelle Tillman, 2010; "Penny Arboretum," "Crystals," "Passion fruit," by Joe Carlough, 2009; "Brother, Sister," by David Brennan, MAW program; "Dragonflies," "Chicago," by Joan Hanna, 2009; "Feeling 'Goodness'," by Anthony Belluscio, 2009; "Finding Daddy," by Calley Steel, 2010

R.U. Award for Creative Nonfiction
2008, First Place, "Snuff," by Rebecca Bland, MAW program
Second Place, "Wonderland," by David Brennan, MAW program
Honorable Mention, "Never There," by Christina Weil, 2008; "Realization through Service," by Mike Breuning, 2011; "Holes in My Pockets," by Gabriel Arnold, 2011

Contact:

Lisa Jahn-Clough
Writing Arts
jahn-clough@rowan.edu