The annual Hub City/Emrys Creative Writing Prizes have been awarded to Andrew Waters in fiction and Irena Tervo in creative nonfiction.
The contest, sponsored by the Hub City Writers Project and the Emrys Foundation, is open to adults in Greenville and Spartanburg counties.
Irena Tervo of Simpsonville won the creative nonfiction contest for her essay, “The Hike.” Of her work the judge said, “From the first sentence to the last, this writer takes the reader on a journey of discovery and despair, delving into universal truths that reveal what is important in life.” Tervo, who has a master’s degree in French, is a high school teacher and a member of the South Carolina Writers Workshop. She has been published in The Pettigru Review, Edible Upscountry and other places.
Second place in creative nonfiction went to Melissa Walker, George D. Johnson Professor of History at Converse College, for “American Buffalo.” The third place winner was Erin Hubbell Spartanburg, who teaches AP English and Latin at Spartanburg High School.
The winner in the short story contest was Andrew Waters for the story “The Acts of Roy.” Waters is executive director of the Spartanburg Area Conservancy. His short fiction has been published in The Bad Version, Pembroke Magazine, and Kwik Krimes, edited by Otto Penzler and his flash fiction has appeared online at Grift Magazine, Yellow Mama, Flash Jab Fiction, Blackheart Magazine, and others. The contest judge said Waters’s story “opens with an assured voice that gradually takes on the cadences of biblical prophecy … Here is a story with vision.”
Second place in fiction went to Betty Burgin Snow for a story called “A Seasoned Traveler.” She is retired in Spartanburg, where she writes stories and reads novels and biographies. The third place winner was Marie Griffin of Spartanburg.
First place winners of these contests receive a scholarship to the week-long Wildacres Writers Workshop in Little Switzerland, N.C. in July. Second and third place winners receive full or partial scholarships to Hub City’s Writing in Place conference July 11-13.
The judge in the fiction contest was novelist was Jon Sealy of Richmond, VA, author of the novel “The Whiskey Baron.” The judge for the nonfiction contest was Lyn Riddle of Greenville, a staff writer at The Greenville News.
The Hub City Writers Project is a non-profit organization in Spartanburg dedicated to cultivating readers and nurturing writers through its independent small press, community bookstore, and diverse literary programming that serves our community and beyond. The Emrys Foundation, based in Greenville, nurtures creativity among emerging and established writers.