Village Writers honored
HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE – Ten Hot Springs Village Writers’ Club members attended the 68th annual Arkansas Writers’ Conference June 1- 2 in Little Rock.
Featured speaker was Charles W. Sasser from Choteau, Okla., a full- time freelance writer, journalist and photographer since 1979.
Sasser is a veteran of the U. S. Navy and the U. S. Army Special Forces, the Green Berets, and he is the author of more than 50 published books.
Writers from Arkansas and 18 other states submitted numerous entries to 32 literary contests. Village Writers’ Club was well represented among the winners, with three members receiving 11 awards.
Madelyn F. Young took first place in the Grand Conference Award. The contest called for a humorous and creative essay about an experience involving a sport. Her essay, “Fun and Games,” highlighted her husband’s childhood experi- ence playing a made- up game of “Shinny” on a rural school’s playground. Young also received first honorable mention in the Erdel Family Award for her mystery short story, “Revenge,” told from the point of view of the corpse.
Mary Lou Moran excelled by winning six awards in conference competitions. Moran took second place in the Humane Society of Pulaski County Award for her true story about an older pet adopted from a shelter. She also received honorable mentions in five other contests.
Jerry Davis received three prizes. Davis took first place in the Arkansas Pioneer Branch Prose Award for his essay, “How Can I As Mentor Encourage an Aspiring Writer?” He received second place in the Regina Crane Award for an essay on the subject, “I Couldn’t Write Without ... ” Davis also won honorable mention in another contest.
Each year, Village Writers’ Club sponsors a contest at Arkansas Writers’ Conference. This year, their guidelines called for a 1,000- word essay on the topic: “Teacher Who Was Most Influential in My Life.” The club limited their contestants to only Arkansas writers, and a fourmember committee of Village Writers selected winners from 14 entrants. Jim Barton, of Huttig, won first place, and Patricia Oplinger, of Cherokee Village, took second.
Village Writers’ Club will resume monthly meetings Sept. 24. Call Davis at 915- 0708 for more information.