WMU student earns prestigious writing award
Aug. 8, 2001
KALAMAZOO -- A Western Michigan University junior who is majoring in creative writing was recently selected as the recipient of a national writing award.
Meggan Carney of Elk Rapids, Mich., is the recipient of the Associated Writing Program's Intro Journals Project award. The Intro Journals Project is a literary competition for the discovery and publication of the best new works written by students currently enrolled in Associated Writing Programs.
Carney received the award for her nonfiction essay titled "The Resurrection of Leonard Belanger." She will receive a $50 cash honorarium and her work will be published in The Journal, an Ohio State University publication. Other winners in the category included students from Sarah Lawrence College, Pennsylvania State University and Indiana University.
Hundreds of creative writing programs across the United States participate in the annual contest by submitting the work of undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in AWP. Those submissions include poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. Carney is the second WMU student to receive an AWP award. In 1998, WMU graduate student Bonnie Jo Campbell, was the recipient of an AWP award for best short fiction.
The AWP is an organization dedicated to nurturing literary talent and advancing the art of writing in higher education. It provides support for more than 20,000 writers worldwide, including teachers and students from 320 different creative writing programs in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The AWP encourages writers to take advantage of the organization's goals and benefits, which include appreciation for literature, awareness of funding for writing and increased publication opportunities.
"The AWP encourages young writers to continue writing," says Carney, "By recognizing students for their work, it lets them know they are on the right track. Having my work published is very exciting and validates my writing."
Carney plans to graduate within a year with a master's degree in the fine arts and pursue a doctoral degree in WMU's Creative Writing Program.
"This award is a high honor for Meggan and the Creative Writing Program," says J.D. Dolan, director of WMU's Creative Writing Program. "We are all very happy that she won this much-deserved award."
Carney is the daughter of Marsha and David Carney.
Media contact: Lisa Lueking, 616 387-8400