Insight

              A Newsletter from the Illinois State Library
Jesse White •Secretary of State & State Librarian
January/February
in
this
issue
Emerging Writers
Competition
E-R-EXPO
Family Reading
Night
Try-it! Illinois
free trial
Exhibit on
Midwest POWs
2008
Secretary of State and State
Librarian Jesse White recently
honored winners of the third
annual Illinois Emerging Writers
Competition at an awards cere-mony
in Chicago. White created
the competition to promote writ-ing
and creativity and to provide
a unique outlet for recognizing
new Illinois literary talent.
“I am proud and honored to con-gratulate
these very talented indi-viduals,”
said Secretary White.
“Illinois has a long history of
producing exceptional writers,
and I hope that all the writers
who entered the contest will
continue inspiring us with their
poems and short stories.” Prizes
were awarded to five winners in
two categories:
Gwendolyn Brooks
Poetry Award
First place – Mary Lucille Hays
of White Heath for “Tippet Hill”
Second place – Samira Grace
Didos of Urbana for “Antiques”
Third place – Samira Grace
Didos of Urbana for “Fear of
Laughter”
James Jones Short Story Award
First place – Lorie Kolak of
Chicago for “Her Terrible Singing
Voice and Love of Singing”
Second place – Andrew Gregory
Krzak of New Lenox for “24
Frames”
Third place – Joseph A. Woods
of Park Forest for “Black Shines”
Each winner received a plaque
and a monetary award: $500-first
place, $300-second place and
$100-third place. In addition,
winning short stories will be sub-mitted
to Ninth Letter magazine
and Downstate Story magazine,
and winning poems to RHINO
magazine, Ninth Letter magazine
and Another Chicago Magazine
for possible publication.
The writing competition is a joint
venture of the Illinois Center for
the Book, for which Secretary
White serves as honorary chair,
the Illinois State Library and the
James Jones Literary Society,
which provides generous finan-cial
support for the competition.
Illinois Poet Laureate Kevin Stein
was final judge for the poetry
entries, and author Kaylie Jones,
daughter of legendary Illinois
writer James Jones (From Here to
Eternity), was final judge for the
short story entries.
In related news, 2006 Emerging
Writers winners Anthony Coman
of DeKalb and Susan Srikant of
Urbana are being published.
Anthony’s first-place poetry
entry, “House,” will be pub-lished
in the April issue of
RHINO magazine. Susan’s third-place
short-story entry, “My
Arrival in Horseshoe, Nevada,”
will be published by Downstate
Story magazine in Volume 16 of
the 2007 edition.
For information on the 2008
Illinois Emerging Writers
Competition or to read the win-ning
short story and poetry
entries from the last two years,
visit illinoiscenterforthebook.org.
Emerging Writers Competition winners honored
INSIGHT
Attending the 2007 Illinois Emerging
Writers Competition awards ceremony
were (left to right): Bonnie Matheis, coor-dinator
of the Illinois Center for the Book;
winner Andrew Gregory Krzak; Secretary
of State Jesse White; winner Lorie Kolak;
Illinois State Library Director Anne Craig;
and winners Joseph Woods, Mary Lucille
Hays and Samira Grace Didos.