GREENEVILLE – Student literary work will take center stage in an upcoming awards ceremony that celebrates the talent of up-and coming writers at Tusculum University.
Amy Wright
The Curtis and Billie Owens Literary Awards presentation ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 7, in the Shulman Center on the Tusculum campus. The event is free and open to the community.
“This event recognizes the remarkable writing talent that permeates Tusculum University and illustrates the importance we place on active and experiential learning,” said Wayne Thomas, dean of the College of Civic and Liberal Arts. “Students have put forth considerable effort to present their writing skills, and we are thrilled to honor them and encourage the continuing development of their craft.”
The Curtis and Billie Owens Awards will honor the work of students in four categories — drama, fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Winners in each category will receive a monetary award.
During the celebration, author Amy Wright, who is serving as contest judge, will announce her selections from work students submitted. Wright, an award-winning essayist and author of three poetry books and six chapbooks, will also give a reading from her own writing.
Wright’s essays appear in publications such as “Georgia Review,” “Fourth Genre,” “Kenyon Review” and “Minding Nature.” She is the Senior Editor of “Zone 3” journal and has twice been awarded Peter Taylor Fellowships to the Kenyon Review Writers’ Workshop. She has also received an individual artist grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission and a fellowship to Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
“We are honored to host Amy Wright,” said Kelsey Trom, associate professor of English. “I look forward to her reading – live readings always give me more insight into written work. We and our students are anxious to hear the winners she chose, as there are many talented writers of all majors here at Tusculum – it’s a nail-biter.
“Our students need the kind of feedback and validation a professional writer and editor they don’t know can provide. Tusculum students get a head start on their own writing careers by networking with authors like Amy and learning from her model of creative excellence, productivity and professionalism.”
Previous winners of the Curtis and Billie Owens Awards include Justin Phillip Reed, a 2013 Tusculum graduate and winner of the National Book Award for poetry in 2018.
Curtis Owens, who was a professor and held a variety of administrative assignments at Pace University, and his wife, Billie, established the awards at Tusculum in 1995. He was a 1928 graduate of Tusculum, where he played football, debated, won an award for philosophy and two awards for poetry as well as wrote the class poem for the 1928 annual.
For more information about the university, please visit www.tusculum.edu.