BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. - Northeast State award-winning student literary publication "Echoes and Images" announced winners of the annual competition. Student submissions were made during the fall semester in the categories of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and visual arts. A panel of judges, who are experts in each category, selected first, second and third place winners earlier this semester.
Fiction category: Patrick B. Cooley won first place for his work "On Church Street," Chelsea Temple earned second place for The Fun Ones, and Kevin Matthew Bennett took third place with "Forlorn Stranger." Honorable mention went to Kristi C. Fitzgerald for her work "Sterling Muse."
Non-fiction: "June 22, 2015: Inmate Intake" by Wesley Payer took the first-place award. Second place went to "The Boy in the Green Jacket" by Patrick B. Cooley. "For This Child We Have Prayed" by Kayla Mullins won third place. Honorable mention notices went to "Bonnaroo "Fun" Run" by Daniel Radle and "Ice Cream Will Never Taste the Same" by Delaney Dunne.
Cooley also took first-place and second-place awards in the poetry category for his poems "On the Porch, in the "Summer" and "Marmalade." Kevin Carrier won third place for his poem "Drawing in a Breath from the Sky." Honorable mention notices went to these contributing poets: "Thought to Thought" and "Toxic Marbles" by K.C. Fitzgerald; "To Be Me" by Rachel Starnes; "Smoke" by Carrier; "Busboy" by Cooley; and "Wesscourt Lane" by Shelby Minogue.
Finalists judged in the poetry category were: Cheston Axton for "Another Day For Mary Shelley"; Kevin Carrier for "City of the Timberwolves"; Shianne S. Milbourn for "Washington County Animal Shelter" and "Tweetsie Trail"; Matthew Bennett for "Consumerism Museum"; and Madison G. Phillips for "Unlovable."
In the Visual Art category, Brad Simon won first place with "Metamorphosis," a mixed media piece on paper, and second place with "Bound Skull," a charcoal on paper rendering. Kayla Miller took third place with her mixed media work "Split Tessellation." Honorable mention notices went to Allison Smith for "Benny" and Emily Overbey's work "Rainbow Connection."
Other art noted for distinction by the judges were: Emily Overbey for "Angelic Shadows" charcoal on paper; Shayna Richardson for What Lies in the Dark, charcoal on paper; Hannah McClain for "Emotions," mixed media on paper; Tiffany Washburn for "The Skull," charcoal on paper; Jenna Jacobs for "Alexithymia," acrylic on canvas; Erica Birchfield for "Symphony of Ravens," mixed media on paper; and Allison Smith for "Fairy Tree," mixed media on paper.
First, second and third-place winners in all categories will be published this spring in Echoes and Images 26.
