This year GCWA received over 110 writing contest entries, one of the largest responses we’ve had in recent years. The competition was challenging, but thanks to our awesome volunteer judges, who devoted their time and skills, the best pieces were selected. The top three winners in each category will read their entries at the August 19th Membership Meeting.
The program begins at 10:00 a.m. We suggest you arrive early to get a good seat. You won’t be disappointed. A healthy lunch will be available after the presentations, courtesy of GCWA. This will offer you an opportunity to munch and mingle with our contest winners, who are:
| Adult Section | Youth Section | |||
| Category | Non Fiction | Poetry | Fiction | Not Applicable |
| 1st Place | Pamela Pohlman | Sandy Dahlhofer | Brad Burt | Eric Zhu-West |
| Winning entry | “A Picture of Hell” | “Snowflake” | “But He Didn’t!” | “Right Hand Raised” |
| Home town | Fort Myers, FL | Lake Placid, FL | Fort Myers, | Roxbury, MA |
| 2nd Place | Patricia Sheehy | Amy Pontius | Patti M. Walsh | Kurukulasuriya Fernando |
| Winning entry | “Searching for Me” | “Moon Dance” | “Ghosts of Clotheslines Past” | “Pretty Little Things” |
| Home town | Estero, FL | Fort Myers, FL. | Fort Myers, FL | Fort Myers, FL |
| 3rd Place | MaryLou Williams | Grace Brendel | Pauline Hayton | Stormi Thomas |
| Winning entry | “Audrey Hepburn and Me” | “The Land Before This” | “Somewhere in England” | “Secret Miracles” |
| Home town | Fort Myers, FL | Cape Coral, FL | Naples, FL | Lake Mary, FL |
September 9th from 7:00-9:00PM is the book launch event for our upcoming anthology, “Storm Stories-Hurricane Ian” at the Alliance of the Arts. We are very excited about this event, which is part of the Alliance’s month-long commemoration of Hurricane Ian. Contributing authors to our anthology may arrive as early as 6:00pm to purchase their books at cost. Books will also be available to members at that time.
We desperately need volunteers to assist as greeters, book sellers and floaters at this event. We also need volunteers to assemble the video portion of the evening, still images and video segments. Please contact Mary Charles at mary@marycharles.com or call/text her at 718-848-4031. Mary will be at the Alliance for the Arts theatre on Friday, September 8, the afternoon before the event between 1:00-3:00pm. She would prefer getting any borrowed equipment that afternoon.
Our anthology, “Storm Stories-Hurricane Ian”, will be available soon as a trade paperback and hard cover at local book stores, the gift shop at the Alliance for the Arts and the Alliance’s popular monthly Night Market. It will also be obtainable online from Amazon.com in e-book, paperback and hard cover versions. Pre-publication orders for the e-book on Amazon are now being accepted.
We just learned that the Lee County Library System has ordered one book for each library branch and will order additional copies if there is a demand for more.
Please consider assisting us with the September 9th event. More information on the anthology will be in next month’s newsletter, so keep checking our website for updates!
Don’t forget our August 19th meeting will be held as usual starting at 10:00am-Noon.
Location: Map
Meeting Location:
Word of Life Church
6111 South Pointe Blvd.,
Fort Myers, FL 33919
Irene Smith, President