{"id":30763,"date":"2025-04-14T12:30:01","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T16:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/news\/?p=30763"},"modified":"2025-04-14T20:32:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T00:32:29","slug":"tusculum-students-pursuing-degrees-in-multiple-fields-earn-awards-at-annual-literary-prize-ceremony-on-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/news\/news\/2025\/tusculum-students-pursuing-degrees-in-multiple-fields-earn-awards-at-annual-literary-prize-ceremony-on-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"Tusculum students pursuing degrees in multiple fields earn writing awards at annual literary prize ceremony on campus"},"content":{"rendered":"

GREENEVILLE<\/strong> \u2013 Three Tusculum University<\/a> students earned first place honors recently in a writing competition that showcased their talent in multiple genres and demonstrated they are on the path to becoming career-ready professionals.<\/h3>\n
\"Left

Left to right are Gregory Emilio, Kiersten Paxton, Cheyenne Hewitt, Isabella Gall and Dr. Josh Martin. Emilio was the contest judge, and Dr. Martin is an assistant professor of English at Tusculum. The others are the student winners.<\/p><\/div>\n

Tusculum\u2019s English<\/a> program hosted the annual Curtis \u201928 and Billie Owens Literary Prize ceremony Thursday, April 10.\u00a0Held every spring, the event allows Tusculum students of any major to demonstrate their writing skills. English professors encouraged students to submit pieces in the drama, fiction, nonfiction and poetry categories.<\/p>\n

Poet Gregory Emilio, executive director of the Georgia Writers Association and a lecturer at Kennesaw State University, served as this year\u2019s prize judge. He began the ceremony by reading from his poetry collection \u201cKitchen Apocrypha.\u201d The collection features poems themed around food with curated biblical and mythological connections.<\/p>\n

Then he and Dr. Josh Martin, assistant professor of English at Tusculum, turned to recognizing the students who won awards in the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the submissions were of such high quality,\u201d Emilio said. \u201cJudging this competition was such a delight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first prize winner, Kiersten Paxton, a senior pursuing a bachelor\u2019s degree in English, with a creative writing concentration, was awarded the nonfiction award for her piece titled \u201cAppalachian Fairy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Appalachian Fairy\u2019 is an incredibly complex and deeply moving lyric essay,\u201d Emilio said. \u201cVivid descriptions of Appalachian winterscapes are threaded through with curious notes and bits of folklore. Paxton casts a spell with this essay.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next prize winner was Isabella Gall, a sophomore seeking a psychology<\/a> degree, who won for her poem \u201cWell, if the son of God would kiss me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Gregory

Gregory Emilio reads from his poetry.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWith just five spare lines, this is a poem of Dickensesque comprehension and unsettling biblical reference in which Gall evokes Jesus to describe intense spiritual longing,\u201d Emilio said.<\/p>\n

He also had high praise for Gall\u2019s other winning piece, a drama \u201cSleeping Upstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Sleeping Upstairs\u2019 is a clever, delightful satire on vampire folklore,\u201d Emilio said. \u201cGall pits a boy against a college-aged thief who has chosen the wrong house to burgle. What I love about this uncanny piece of drama is that it deliberately plays with the audience\u2019s expectations, moving from what appears to be childish make-believe to something more sinister.\u201d<\/p>\n

The final winner was Cheyenne Hewitt, a junior majoring in communication<\/a>, with a theater concentration, who took home the fiction prize for her piece \u201cBad Religion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt ingeniously uses a split first-person point of view to explore a chance encounter between a rideshare driver and a lovesick passenger on his way to meet his ex-girlfriend,\u201d Emilio said. \u201cThe back-and-forth dialogue and shifting POV inches both characters towards a minor, but meaningful, revelation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emilio also praised three honorable mention honorees. Student J.P. Noll was the runner-up in the nonfiction and fiction categories. Scott Newland was the runner-up for poetry. Paxton was the honorable mention for drama.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.

Dr. Josh Martin kicks off the ceremony.<\/p><\/div>\n

The performance by Paxton in this year\u2019s competition continues a string of recognition she has earned. She won three first place awards in the Owens competition in 2024, and she finished third in the Tennessee Collegiate Poetry Contest in the fall.<\/p>\n

The Curtis \u201928 and Billie Owens Literary Prize was named for Tusculum faculty member Curtis Owens and his wife, Billie, who founded the award in 1995. Their goal was to honor and highlight the great creative achievements of Tusculum students.\u00a0Each student who won a category received $250.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe writing submitted by our students is a testament to the literary powerhouse that we have built at Tusculum,\u201d Dr. Martin said. \u201cOur students consistently produce outstanding writing, and those who pursue it as a career are distinguishing themselves as alumni. We are proud of this year\u2019s honorees and all who are representing Tusculum exceptionally on the literary stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional information about the English program is available at https:\/\/site.tusculum.edu\/english-2\/<\/a>. To learn more about the university, please visit www.tusculum.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GREENEVILLE<\/strong> \u2013 Three Tusculum University<\/a> students earned first place honors recently in a writing competition that showcased their talent in multiple genres and demonstrated they are on the path to becoming career-ready professionals.<\/h3>\n

Tusculum\u2019s English<\/a> program hosted the annual Curtis \u201928 and Billie Owens Literary Prize ceremony Thursday, April 10.\u00a0Held every spring, the event allows Tusculum students of any major to demonstrate their writing skills. English professors encouraged students to submit pieces in the drama, fiction, nonfiction and poetry categories.<\/p>\n

Poet Gregory Emilio, executive director of the Georgia Writers Association and a lecturer at Kennesaw State University, served as this year\u2019s prize judge. He began the ceremony by reading from his poetry collection \u201cKitchen Apocrypha.\u201d The collection features poems themed around food with curated biblical and mythological connections.<\/p>\n

Read the full article…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[131,91,7,160,19,142,169,146,1,6,148,147,149,172],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nTusculum students pursuing degrees in multiple fields earn writing awards at annual literary prize ceremony on campus :: Tusculum University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/news\/news\/2025\/tusculum-students-pursuing-degrees-in-multiple-fields-earn-awards-at-annual-literary-prize-ceremony-on-campus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tusculum students pursuing degrees in multiple fields earn writing awards at annual literary prize ceremony on campus :: Tusculum University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"GREENEVILLE \u2013 Three Tusculum University students earned first place honors recently in a writing competition that showcased their talent in multiple genres and demonstrated they are on the path to becoming career-ready professionals. Tusculum\u2019s English program hosted the annual Curtis \u201928 and Billie Owens Literary Prize ceremony Thursday, April 10.\u00a0Held every spring, the event allows Tusculum students of any major to demonstrate their writing skills. English professors encouraged students to submit pieces in the drama, fiction, nonfiction and poetry categories. Poet Gregory Emilio, executive director of the Georgia Writers Association and a lecturer at Kennesaw State University, served as this year\u2019s prize judge. He began the ceremony by reading from his poetry collection \u201cKitchen Apocrypha.\u201d The collection features poems themed around food with curated biblical and mythological connections. Read the full article...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/news\/news\/2025\/tusculum-students-pursuing-degrees-in-multiple-fields-earn-awards-at-annual-literary-prize-ceremony-on-campus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TUSCULUM UNIVERSITY NEWS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-14T16:30:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-15T00:32:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/11-208-300x270.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim Wozniak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim Wozniak\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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