MARION, Va. -- Winners of the Sherwood Anderson Short Story Contest 2007 have been selected.
The Sherwood Anderson Short Story Contest is held annually and is sponsored by the Smyth-Bland Regional Library in Marion. The contest has separate categories for students 1st through 4th, 5th through 8th, and 9th through 12th grades, a college student category, plus an open category for adults and graduate students.
The goals of The Sherwood Anderson Short Story Contest are to stimulate efforts in creative writing, and, to encourage a better understanding and appreciation for the literary work of Sherwood Anderson.
The winners were as follows:
Category I (Primary School students, grades 1 ? 4)
-- 1st: Quentin Holmes, Chilhowie, Va., "Shikora's Cavern" (Quentin was the 3rd place winner in Category I in 2005, 1st. place winner in 2006 and 1st. again this year)
-- 2nd: Benjamin Ritterbusch, Abingdon, Va., "The Watre Carriar"
Category II (Middle School students, grades 5 ? 8)
-- 1st. Jennifer Hurley, Marion, Va., "North Fork Idaho"
-- 2nd. Shimera A. Wix, Marion, Va., "Virginia Changed Her Life"
-- 3rd. Jessie Smith, Chilhowie, Va., "Lane Four"
-- Honorable mention: Emily Matney, Sugar Grove, Va., "Wild and Free"
Category III (High School students, grades 9 ? 12)
-- 1st: Cassie McGuire, Roanoke, Va., "The Hidden Giant"
-- 2nd: Erin Whitely, Chilhowie, Va., "Mattie's Angel"
-- 3rd Emily K. Long, Sugar Grove, Va., "Little White Lies"
Category IV (College)
-- 1st: Justin Drew Jackson, Abingdon, Va., "A Planted Corpse"
Category V (Open/Adults/Graduate Students)
-- 1st: Linda Hudson Hoagland, North Tazewell, Va.:,"A Simple Act of Kindness"
-- 2nd: Christy Henderson, Chilhowie, Va.:,"Walk"
-- 3rd: Phyllis Stump, Lexington, North Carolina., "The Day the Funeral Came to Town"
Sherwood Anderson was born in 1876 in Ohio and moved to Southwest Virginia in 1925. He built his house, "Ripshin," near Troutdale in 1926. Late in 1927, he purchased the weekly newspapers in Marion, The Marion Democrat, and The Smyth County News. He married Eleanor Copenhaver of Marion in 1933. She was a leader in the national Y.W.C.A., traveling extensively conducting workshops and conferences in behalf of better conditions for women working in factories.
They embarked on a cultural exchange voyage to South America on February 28, 1941. Sherwood became ill, and was taken to a hospital in Colon, Panama, where he died of peritonitis on March 8. His body was returned to Marion, for burial in Round Hill Cemetery.
Anderson published some 23 books, plus numerous stories and essays in magazines from 1914 until shortly before his death. He gained prominence for his originality in a new approach in writing the short story. Selections from his book, Winesburg, Ohio, are found in many anthologies and college reading assignments in American literature, along with others of his short stories.
An awards ceremony and luncheon will be held on Saturday, Sept. 8 at Ripshin, the home of Sherwood Anderson in Grayson County, Va. For more information, call 276-783-2323, Ext. 22. Winners will be honored at this event.
