Nytalya Frye of Wappingers Falls, N.Y., an English major at Mount Saint Mary College, discusses the inspiration for her winning entry, The Deer on the Hill.
The winners of Mount Saint Mary College’s Creative Writing Contest read their winning entries to the campus community on Thursday, May 4, during an open mic event in the Kaplan Family Library and Learning Center.
The contest was spearheaded by the college’s Writing Center. There were two winning entries per category. Each first-place winner received a gift card for $125.
The winners were:
Short Story
- First Place: Jennarose Colucci of Massapequa Park, N.Y., an Education major, for Suicide at Sea
- Runner-up: Catherine Masayda of Watertown, Conn., a Nursing major, for Internal Wounds
Poetry
- First Place: Shirley Quezada of Westbury, N.Y., a Biology major, for The Chase
- Runner-up: Alexandra Del Valle of Newburgh, N.Y., a Nursing major, for Death
Creative Nonfiction/Narrative Journalism
- First Place: Caitlyn Garrigan of Staten Island, N.Y, an English major, for Please! Come Back in Ten Years
- Runner-up: Nytalya Frye of Wappingers Falls, N.Y., an English major, for The Deer on the Hill
Play or Screenplay
- First Place: Clarissa Hill of Sparrow Bush, N.Y., a Business Management and Administration major, for Ding Dong Ditch
- Runner-up: Sarah Seymour of Wappingers Falls, N.Y., a Psychology major, for In the Dark
In addition to the Writing Contest, the Mount’s Writing Center sponsors a variety of events for students throughout the year. The center’s tutors assist Mount students in all stages of the writing process, including brainstorming and organizing ideas; structuring sentences, paragraphs, and essays; strengthening argumentation; incorporating research; appropriate systems of citation; and improving grammar and style.