Two AACC students won first-place awards in a national creative writing competition.
Zoe Hunter, a creative writing student who graduated in May, won first place in the fictional short story section of the League for Innovation’s annual student writing competition for her historical fiction piece “The Hour House,” which was published in the 48th addition of AACC’s literary journal, Amaranth.
Jessie Ehrenreich, a creative writing student, won first place in the one-act play section of the same competition with her piece “Sheila.”
“I didn’t think I was going to get [the award],” Hunter said. “It’s awesome.”
AACC is one of 16 institutions that participate in the annual competition. According to creative writing coordinator Garrett Brown, it’s rare for AACC students to win two categories.
“We have great students in our creative writing program here at AACC and they’re doing some amazing work,” Brown, an English professor, said in an email interview. “Part of my job as coordinator of creative writing is to try to get our students recognition for that work.”
Hunter said AACC helped her grow as a writer.
“Without AACC I would never have been able to create ‘The Hour House,’” Hunter said. “It definitely helped polish my writing skills.”
The coordinators of the competition, John Stilla and Nora Esperanza, said in a statement the jurors “marveled” at the students’ writing ability.
“The maturity of the writing was a recurring comment in this year’s competition,” the statement said, “speaking to the depth and power that comes from writers reflecting on their own experiences as they search for those spaces in our world in which they can bring their full, true selves.”