Italy Writes 2019 Celebrates Winners of Creative Writing Contest
On June 4, JCU’s Italy Writes program announced the winners of this year’s creative writing competition for Italian high school students whose primary language of instruction is not English. Every year Italy Writes engages high school students from all over the country in the development of their English creative writing skills.
Italy Writes 2019 winners and their teachers
From among 90 entries received from 30 high schools in 9 Italian cities (Rome, Naples, Ariccia, Ladispoli, Pomezia, Gorizia, Milan, Mestre and Benevento), 3 finalists were selected for each of the categories of Fiction and Non-Fiction.
This year’s panel of judges was composed of university professors of English, composition and creative writing: three JCU professors (Andrew Rutt, Christin Campbell, and Tara Keenan-Thomson) and, as external judge, Hugh Ferrer from the prestigious University of Iowa International Writing Program.
Teachers, family, and friends joined the winners at the ceremony. As part of the Italy Writes Award, each student schedules a meeting with Professor Keenan-Thomson, Coordinator of JCU’s Writing Center. Professor Keenan-Thomson meets with all six finalists individually to help them revise their winning piece and select the excerpt for reading at the ceremony.
Professor Keenan-Thomson announced the winners:
Fiction Category:
1st Place (€300 gift certificate) – Chiara Fortuna, Liceo Classico Europeo Marco Foscarini, Venice for ‘The Power of Music
2nd Place (€200 gift certificate) – Marco Nunziata, Liceo Ginnasio Statale Virgilio, Rome, for ‘Fag’
3rd Place (€100 gift certificate) – Francesca Cataldo, IIS Tommaso Salvini, Rome, for ‘Awakening’
Non-Fiction Category:
1st Place (€300 gift certificate) – Mihai Alexandru Voicu, Liceo Scientifico Sandro Pertini, Ladispoli, for ‘Rekindling the Harp’
2nd Place (€200 gift certificate) – Petra Sardoč, ISIS Gregorčič/Trubar, Gorizia, for ‘HOMO SAPIENS?’
3rd Place (€100 gift certificate) – Simone Spadoni, Liceo Scientifico ‘Keplero’, for ‘The Theory of Everything’
