Lanie Freeman (1st place poetry) with Chris Bays, writing club advisor
The Clark State College Creative Writer’s Club recently announced the winners of the 2023-2024 Voices of the Valley Poetry Contest and the third annual essay contest.
Poetry award entries were judged on creativity, originality and reflection of the contest theme, “Shades of Relationships.” First-place honors went to Lanie Freeman, Clark State College Credit Plus home-school student, for “Souls After Dusk.” Jade Campbell, who is pursuing a general transfer degree, earned second-place for “Shades of Relationships.” Sachea Pettigrew, a graphic design student pursuing a bachelor’s degree from Clark State, earned third-place for his “Maladaptive Fantasy.” Honorable Mentions went to Michaela Finney for “Reverence” and Mikala Ridder for “Lamentation.”
Entries in the essay contest were judged on writing and research. Evan Doolittle, Clark State College Credit Plus student from Great Rivers Connection Academy, earned first-place for “Does the Bail System Need Bailing Out?” Second-place honors went to Anastasiya Jex, who is pursuing a general transfer degree, for “Body Image: Is Body Positivity a Solution or Another Problem?” Braeden Clark earned third-place for “Have it Your Way: Food, Hold the Fast.”
All award winners received cash prizes and will have their works published in Clark State's student journal, “Voices of the Valley.”
Contest entries were judged by Tabitha Parker, Clark State English associate professor and D. Scot Hinson, Wittenberg University associate professor of English.