Italy Writes 2017 Announces Winners
Italy Writes 2017
On June 6, JCU’s Italy Writes program, a nation-wide English language creative writing competition for high school students whose primary language of instruction is not English, celebrated its latest group of talented writers.
Professor Carlos Dews, Director of JCU’s Institute for Creative Writing and Literary Translation, welcomed the audience that included Italy Writes 2017 finalists, parents, teachers and grandparents. He thanked the faculty and graduate students of JCU’s Summer Institute for Creative Writing and Literary Translation, including those from the American University in Washington, for hosting this event.
Before presenting certificates of accomplishment to the finalists, JCU Writer in Residence, award-winning author Frederic Tuten expressed his enthusiasm about sharing this special moment with the budding young writers. Tuten pointed out the value in being able to express oneself in more than one language. “I admire the facility, the power of expression and the ability to stretch one’s imagination that comes with writing creatively in a second or third language.”
He gave several examples of famous writers who earned acclaim also for their writing in an acquired second or third language. For example, Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), a Polish-British writer regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the English language. Also, Russian-American writer Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977). Tuten also shared his esteem for Italian journalist and writer Italo Calvino (1923-1985) who also wrote like a native-speaker in English.
Mr. Tuten, himself of Sicilian origin, closed his brief talk with the students by sharing some advice in Italian. He said, “Scrivete bene e siate felici” (Write well and be happy).
As part of the Italy Writes Award, each student is invited to schedule an individual meeting with the JCU Writing Center and receive personal assistance in revising his or her winning piece and selecting the excerpt for reading at the ceremony. The panel of Italy Writes 2017 judges included JCU professors Christin Campbell, Andrew Rutt, and Tara Keenan-Thomson, as well as Hugh Ferrer, professor at the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program.
Professor Keenan-Thomson announced the winners:
Fiction Category:
1st Place (€300 gift certificate) – Giulia Roncari, Liceo Statale Chris Cappell College, Anzio for ‘Coin’,
2nd Place (€200 gift certificate) – Giulia Brotto Rizzo, Liceo Lucrezio Caro, Rome, for ‘A New Life’,
3rd Place (€100 gift certificate) – Lorenzo La Bella, Liceo Scientifico J.F. Kennedy, Rome, for ‘The Stranger’,
Honorable Mention – Marta Gamberale, Liceo Ginnasio Virgilio, Rome, for ‘Chansan des Étoiles’,
Non-Fiction Category:
1st Place (€300 gift certificate) – Luca Ingravalle, Liceo Classico ‘Dante Alighieri’, Rome, for ‘I’m Not a Lady’,
2nd Place (€200 gift certificate) – Marco Carbone, ISIS De Nicola, Naples, for ‘An Alliance for Oscar’,
3rd Place (€100 gift certificate) – Efinoelah Nicole R. Ferrer, Liceo Statale Maria Montessori, Rome, for ‘Give childhood back to child soldiers!’
Honorable Mention – Costanza Adinolfi, Liceo Classico ‘Giulio Cesare, Rome, for ‘Make Love Not Wall’.
