Tusculum College students Danielle Armstrong, Phillip Dean, Andy English and David Roncskevitz are the winners of the 2010 Curtis and Billie Owens Literary Awards, annually given to recognize the literary achievements of the college’s creative writing students.
Danielle Armstrong of Blountville won in the non-fiction category for “Mature Realism.” Armstrong is a junior majoring in English with a concentration in creative writing.
Phillip Dean of Whitesburg won the poetry category for his collection of 10 poems. Dean is a senior majoring in pre-medicine.
Andy English of Greeneville was the winner in the fiction category for his story, “Crop Rotation.” English is a senior majoring in English with a concentration in creative writing.
David Roncskevitz of Franklin won the scriptwriting category with his work, “House of Autumn Fire.” Roncskevitz is a junior majoring English with a writing concentration.
Award-winning author and essayist Patrick Madden made the announcement of the winners of the literary competition during a program on March 22. Madden, whose first book won second place in the 2007 AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) Award Series in Creative Nonfiction, was the judge for this year’s competition. The announcement of the award was made after Madden gave the audience of students, faculty and staff a taste of that book, “Quotidiana,” a collection of essays, with the reading of his essay, “Asymptosy.“ Madden, who teachers creative writing at Brigham Young University, is the fourth outside literary figure to judge the competition. Madden’s reading was part of the college’s 2009-2010 Humanities Series.
The literary award was named for Curtis Owens, a 1928 graduate of Tusculum College who went on to a teaching career at what is now Pace University in New York. He and his wife established the Owens Award at his alma mater to encourage and reward excellence in writing among Tusculum College students.