This past spring, Clark State Creative Writer Club students, under the guidance of faculty advisers Chris Bays and Tabitha Parker, hosted The 2020 Voices of the Valley Poetry Contest – open to area high schools, colleges and universities – and also the first-ever annual on-campus essay contest. The poetry contest’s theme focused on “addiction.” The essay contest focused on well-researched argumentative essays.
The essay contest was judged blindly (without sight of student names) by Professors Tabitha Parker and Chris Bays.
The following Clark State students received accolades for their critical insight and thorough research:
1st Place – Shaun T. Birt’s “Counseling: Mandatory in All School Districts”
2nd Place – Francheska Souza’s “Vaccines in the Limelight”
3rd Place – Cloie Green’s “The Heartbeat Bill”
The winning essays can be read in the student journal Voices of the Valley 2020, Issue 3, edited by student editor and recent Clark State graduate, Joanna Perkins.
For the Voices of the Valley Poetry Contest 2020, poems based on the theme of addiction were submitted by students from Cedarville University, Clark State Community College, Clark Shawnee High School, Greenon High School, Global Impact Stem Academy, Kenton Ridge High School, Ohio Hi-Point, Springfield Clark CTC, TRECA Digital Academy, Wittenberg University and Wright State University.
The contest was judged blindly (without sight of student names) by D. Scot Hinson, Associate Professor of English at Wittenberg University, Tabitha Parker, Assistant Professor of English at Clark State Community College and Chris Bays, Professor of English at Clark State Community College.
The following poets’ voices shined the brightest based on this year’s theme of “addiction”:
1st Place – Meghan Largent of Cedarville University for “Morphine”
2nd Place – Avery Schnitzler of Clark-Shawnee Highschool for “Redolent”
3rd Place – Austin Roush of Clark-Shawnee Highschool for “Warmonger”
Honorable Mention Winners of the poetry contested are listed below in no particular order:
Melanie Reynolds of Ohio-Hi Point for “Be Satisfied”
Emma Nicole Griever of TRECA Digital Academy for “The Voice of Self Harm”
Hannah Louck of Ohio-Hi Point for “Addiction is a Choice”
The winning poems can be read in the student journal Voices of the Valley 2020, Issue 3, edited by student editor and recent Clark State graduate, Joanna Perkins.
The winners of the essay and poetry contests will receive cash prizes and certificates. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, Clark State’s Creative Writers Club was unable to host an award banquet on campus. Instead, the writers club will be moving the celebration online.
Writers interested in taking part in the spring 2021 essay and poetry contests, please contact Chris Bays at baysc@clarkstate.edu or Tabitha Parker at parkert@clarkstate.edu.
Contact Chris Bays at baysc@clarkstate.edu or Tabitha Parker at parkert@clarkstate.edu for information on how to purchase a copy of the journals.