May 1, 2008

Aspiring writers from high schools across the East Valley recently had the opportunity to showcase their creative writing skills and compete for a scholarship to Chandler-Gilbert Community College.

The winners of CGCC’s first creative writing contest, Meagan Bow of Hamilton High School and Lisa Vega of Higley High School, will be using their scholarships to study creative writing at the college this summer with accomplished author and CGCC faculty member Patrick Finn.

Bow said her short story, Shattered Dreams, about a teenage runaway escaping from an abusive home life, gave her the chance to stretch her writing skills and create a character that interested her.

“I love writing and I hope to write teen novels for a living someday,” Bow said. “Taking this Creative Writing class at CGCC this summer is a great opportunity, because it will allow me to continue to improve my writing skills.”

Vega’s submission, a comedy entitled, Huh, is about two friends who are forced to be married, and the comedy of errors and shenanigans that ensue.

“My career goal is to be an architect, but I would also love to write a novel someday,” Vega said.

Finn said the purpose of the writing contest was to recognize the imaginative literary talent of young writers and to encourage their continued artistic development.

“National interest in literary arts has significantly declined in recent years,” Finn said. “The future health of American literature depends on cultivating enthusiasm for literary art in our nation's youth by encouraging their efforts and rewarding their successful results.”

Both students will be recognized at the college’s student awards banquet this month.

Finn launched CGCC’s Creative Writing program last fall. His first novella, A Martyr for Suzy Kosasovich, was published by the Cleveland State University Press in February. Finn’s previous publications include, Where the Beautiful Ladies Dance for You, which was published by Houghton Mifflin, and was included in the Best American Mystery Stories, 2004; as well as various pieces in TriQuarterly, The Richmond Review, Ploughshares, and Punk Planet.

This summer, Finn will offer “Introduction to Creative Writing” at CGCC. The course is designed for writers interested in improving their original, imaginative works of poetry and prose.

“I see this class as something that would appeal to a variety of people— those who want to turn their personal journals into something artful, those who have always wanted to write a story based on their lives, and even those who just love to read,” Finn said.

“Introduction to Creative Writing” will be held from June 2 through July 24, on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:45 to 8:25 p.m. For more information or to enroll, call (480) 732-7320 or access my.maricopa.edu.

CGCC is located at 2626 E. Pecos Rd. in Chandler.

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