And The Winners of the
2008 MDW Poetry & Fiction Contests Are…
The Springfed Arts-Metro Detroit Writers literary arts organization is very pleased to announce the winners of our 2008 Members Only Poetry & Fiction Contests. The Poetry Contest was judged by acclaimed poet and author Tony Hoagland at The University of Houston. The Fiction Contest was judged by award winning UM fiction writer and poet, and the author of the novel recently turned into a film starring Ulma Thurman entitled The Life Before her Eyes, Laura Kasischke. We send our thanks to the 60+ folks who entered this year’s two contests. We were very honored to have Tony & Laura as our 2008 judges. They are both very high profile, acclaimed American writers, and their participation as judges honors us all. Winners have been asked to read their award winning piece at the 2008 Lit Fest on Sunday, June 8 at noon on our Bank of America Literary & Music Lounge Stage (located on Cass at Putnam between State & Science Halls and across from the Detroit Public library) at this year’s Detroit Festival for the Arts (www.detroitfestival.com)
For Poetry:
1st— Geneva Ketchman for “If You Seek a Pleasant Peninsula”
2nd — Sophia Rifkin for “Grandmother in Black”
3rd — Robin V. Whitney for “One Thousand Pairs of Shoes”
Honorable Mentions 
John Jeffire for “The Good Soldier”
Olga Klekner for “Why I Write Poems”
Patricia Barnes for “Habemus Papam”
Linda Nemec Foster for “The Far Country”
Carol  Carpenter for “What Happened at Loon Lake”
For Fiction & Prose
1st—Aric Haley for “All Hallows’ Eve in the Shrine of the Dead Celebrities” Laura wrote “This story is written with such energy that the pages turned themselves.  The details are vivid and evocative.  A whole world is created.  This writer is the real thing!”
2nd—Alexander Morgan for “Ann Escapes”
3rd—Mary Schmitt for “Christmas in Michigan”
Honorable Mention
Christina Trapani Scott for “It’s Only a Matter of Survival”

The Wayne Literary Review
Submissions of poetry, 1,500-word short stories, and black and white photos of artwork for The Wayne Literary Review may be sent to Wayne Literary Review, c/o Department of English, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48202.IWWG Guild Membership
The International Women’s Writing Guild (IWWG) was founded in 1976. To join, send a $45 check or money order ($30 for youth age 18 and under) to Hannelore Hahn, IWWG Executive Director, Post Office Box 810 Gracie Station, New York, New York 10028. www.IWWG.com.

Driftwood Review:
Send poems and short stories for The Driftwood Review with checks/money orders in the amount of $6 for a subscription/$20 for a sponsorship payable to Ludington Visiting Writers, 310 North Ferry Street, Ludington, Michigan 49431. www.ludingtonwriters.com

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The Winners of the
MDW 2007 Writing Contests
Judged by Poet Claire Rossini of CT and Ann Arbor Fiction Writer Keith Taylor

Poetry
First Place: Linda Nemec Foster A Sign from God
Second Place: Terry Blackhawk Chambered Nautilus with Tinnitus and Linden
Third Place: Christine Rhein As If
Fourth Place: Mary Butler Vultures
Fifth Place: Anne Doran Mohican Lodge, November
Honorable Mentions:
K. Michelle Moran The Darkness
Kristine Uyeda The Woman with a Cloud in her Purse
Marc Maurus call me firefly
N. S. Williams Of Barnacles and Marsupium
John Jeffire The Composition Teacher Ponders Questions Posed
by his Students at the Allen Correctional Institute
Catherine Huben Words Like Water
Stephanie Matthews In Search of the Positive
Mary Minock Snapshot Found on the Street Outside the Senate Theater

Prose
First Place: John Jeffire River Rouge
Second Place: Mary Minock Davy Crocket Rhodes
Third Place: Sheryl Morang Holmberg The Lovers
Honorable Mentions:
Sharon MacDonell News Junkie
Miriam G. Sherbin Strange Intimacy

BIG WIN for Long-Time MDW Member
Sophia Rivkin won a $5000 award for First Place in a poetry competition from RATTLE magazine for her poem CONSPIRACY. Sophia is an active member and supporter of the Metro Detroit Writers. She has participated in Master Level workshops, is a frequent attendee at readings, and a regular in Mary Jo’s advanced poetry workshop. Congratulations, Sophia!

Cheri L. R. Taylor is the recipient of the 1st Annual Suzy and Burt Farbman Walloon Writers' Retreat Scholarship.
Springfed Arts has decided that this annual scholarship shall be given to a meritorious teacher of writing. Cheri is that, indeed. The positive energy she displays in her vital role as community outreach director made her a stand out in the running for this award.
Suzy Farbman has been attending the Walloon Writers’ Retreat nearly every year since it began in 1998. She credits the retreat as being helpful with the writing of her book Back from Betrayal. Soon after the book was published, Suzy and Burt appeared on Oprah. Suzy gave an excellent talk presentation at last year’s Walloon Writers’ Retreat. She is working on a new book and will be in attendance this year, seeking further inspiration from the retreat.

Springfed Arts - Metro Detroit Writers
POETRY & PROSE 2006
CONTEST WINNERS
Winners to Read in the Literary & Music Lounge, Detroit Festival of the Arts,
Sunday, June 11, Noon to 1:30. Please support your fellow writers by attending!

POETRY:
First Prize: Elizabeth Volpe, Avocados
Second Prize: Sara Lamers, After Deciding on Divorce I helped My Mother Move
Third Prize: Nancy Williams, Laundry
First Honorable Mention: Rebecca Vlasic, Red Hibiscus
Second Honorable Mention: Sophia Rivkin, The Love of Pin Feathers
Third Honorable Mention: Zilka Joseph, Kaulee haddi
Fourth Honorable Mention: Rebecca Vlasic, Ritual

Special Commendations:
Nancy Williams, Jar of Peaches
Sara Lamars, The Last Time
Chris Lord, Slow Cooking
Catherine Huben, Aunt Millie
Karin Hoffecker, For Buzzy
Mary Minock, What Avon Meant to Us
Elizabeth Kerkikowske, Six Rooms in the Renovation
Catherine Huben, Fifteen
Jim Ahearn, 11 Going on Life
Mary Simion, My Day
Karin Hoffecker, The Gift of Voice
Liza Young, A Living Room
Helen Hand, Slumber Feat
Rex Richards, Every Darkness
Elizabeth Volpe, No Pain No Gain
Elaine Winkler, Trail Blazer
Don Hewlett, The Gift Scarf

Vivian Shipley, well-published poet and editor of The Connecticut Review, was our gracious Poetry Judge for 2006. She felt the work entered was so fine that she also named 16 poems for Special Commendation. She said: “Judging this contest was a daunting challenge because all of the poetry was so strong. Each poem had a style that was physical and memorable. So much of what I read for as the Editor of Connecticut Review was in these poems: specifics and sounds that have stayed with me; unexpected but persuasive turns toward ever more detail, more revelation; and closures that let me finish the poems with more than I had ever hoped to find. These poets all demonstrated an awareness of the complexity of being human, realized that whatever we are, we are, and accepted humanity as it is. Overall, each poet showed a talent for introducing symbol and metaphor to extend the meaning of the poem. These poems, these poets have taken me with them into other worlds and I’m grateful to have had the chance to go.”

PROSE:
First Prize: Bernard W. Joseph, Semper Fi
Second Prize: Linda Sienkiewicz, Swerve
Third Prize: Dennis Hurley, The Pine Man
First Honorable Mention: Charles Brice, Eternal Return
Second Honorable Mention: Miriam G. Sherbin, Criminal Call
Third Honorable Mention: M.S. Murzyn, Doctor’s Orders

Craig Holden, esteemed workshop leader at the Walloon Writers Retreat, was the 2006 Prose Judge. He is author of no less than five novels, the latest being The Narcissist’s Daughter by Simon & Schuster. He said: “In addition to strong writing— description, depth of character, strong dialogue— I also looked for stories or chapters that traced a complete arc, that didn’t feel like just a piece or a vignette or a memory, but had a real dramatic structure.  Obviously, this is harder to achieve in a chapter than a story, but I felt that my second place choice, a chapter from a novel called Swerve, did it.  The first place story, Semper Fi, also describes a relationship between and older person and a younger one. It becomes a kind of love story, with a poignant and sad and utterly believable climax and resolution that is all the more powerful for its avoidance of melodrama or cliche or sentimentality.  The third place piece, a story called The Pine Man, has a real structure to it; it takes us through a journey as a story should do.  It’s also nicely written.  Eternal Return is wonderfully written.  Criminal Call is well written and has the arc of a complete story. The short story Doctor’s Orders is clever and funny and, again, well-structured. 

Metro Detroit Writers’
2005 Contest Winners

Springfed Arts-Metro Detroit Writers, M. L. Liebler, John D. Lamb, Mary Ann Wehler and all the committee members wish to thank Dorene O’Brien and Colette Inez for taking the time to do such a difficult job of blind judging. We had several surprises in this year’s contest. Two prose pieces with the same title placed in the finals. The same poet won First and Third Prize, another poet won Second Prize along with an Honorable Mention, and one poet received two commendations! Our contest member submissions came from all stages of writing careers but all of them submitted brilliant work. A grand total of 87 members submitted to our 2005 contest. Dorene O’Brien, our Prose Judge, said,“ Seldom have I judged a contest in which each entry showed promise so, as a local writer, I felt particularly gratified to be working in this community of talented wordsmiths. Most notable was the range of the selections: whether the author explored the nuances of sickness and death or how relationships can both bolster and destroy us, each shed light on the “human struggle.” While every piece couldn’t win, each contained bright moments of pure insight and craft. Finally, the pieces that won were the brightest, the ones that stayed with me long after I read them.

• First Prize Prose: Randall G. Thomas: Burying the Past
• Second Prize: Ann L. Forsaith: Double Solitaire
• Third Prize: Stacy Muszynski: Breathe
• First Honorable Mention: Sharon MacDonell: In Whose Image
• Second Honorable Mention: Leigh C. Grant: Breathe
Colette Inez, our Poetry Judge, said, “It was a hard choice, but I have chosen winners plus fifteen commendations. The winning poem struck me as completely original work, witty and blessed with a confident voice.“Shimmer” and “At the Window” were distinctive, sharp-edged ,well-focused and would not let me go. There were many excellent poems in the packet.
• First Prize Poetry: Sophia Rivkin: On Wearing a Jewel in my Nose
• Second Prize: Linda Sienkiewicz: Shimmer
• Third Prize: Sophia Rivkin: At the Window
• First Honorable Mention: Elizabeth Kerlikowski: Trio
• Second Honorable Mention:Mary Butler: Autobiography
• Third Honorable Mention: Linda Sienkiewicz: Device
Commendations:
• Mary Simion: Dancing in Time
• D’Anne Witkowski: Rwanda, 1994
• K. Michelle Moran: Anthem
• Adam Boehmer: Pear Ascending a Staircase
• Sharron Singleton: Beauty is the Throat
• Carol Carpenter: Anatomy of an Argument
• James Semark: Open Mike Night
• Anca Vlasopolos: Program Notes
• D’Anne Witkowski: Dog Bite
• Maria Gillan: Driving Into Our New Lives
• Rebecca Vlasic: Winging the Wild Blue
• Diana Franco: As the People Mover Passes
• Kathleen Spencer: What the Coed Did Not Know, 1974
• Nancy Williams: You Won’t Know She’s Dying
• Helen Hand: Cousin, Thrice Removed