Scribendi 2008 in Hard Copy Form
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Thank You SPONSORS Thanks to the following sponsors of the USU Creative Writing Contest: Associated Students of Utah State University Student Involvement and Leadership Center USU Honors Program USU English Department JUDGES Many thanks for the generosity and discriminating taste of our contest judges: Julie Robertson Chadd VanZanten Star Coulbrooke Paul Crumbley Brock Dethier Samantha Robinson Christine Cooper-Rompato Roberta Stearman Paige Smitten Thanks also to Jim Sinclair for judging the artwork submissions. And thanks to Crumb Brothers Artisan Bread at 291 S. 300 W., Logan, Utah, for gift certificates for the judges. USU's annual creative writing contest drew a large number of superb entries. In fact, judging was so close in a number of cases that winners tied. The happy result of this was that it enabled us to give more awards. We did not, however, receive funding this year to publish Scribendi 2008 in hard copy form. We hope, one day, to find a funding source for the resumption of printing and binding. This year's online version is designed by Natalie Young, who undertook the project as part of her MFA work at Lesley University. Natalie has designed Scribendi to be printable in a number of different ways, in part or whole, in black and white or color. We thank Natalie for her hours of work. We also thank Bria Jones, who has served as this year's intern. Melissa Hislop and Kristin Clove of the English Department staff also deserve thanks for finding time amidst their busy schedules to work on the contest. Finally, we thank all who entered the contest and urge them to keep writing—for love of the word and the craft. The title Scribendi, meaning a compulsion to write, was selected by Marina Hall, who directed the contest from 1999–2004. —ANNE SHIFRER, Contest Director Table of Contents FICTION Graduate First Place: “Bliss” by Chelsi Sutton-Linderman 1 Second Place: “States of Being” by Jacqueline Harris 5 Third Place: “Beneath the Bleachers” by Robert Watkins 9 Undergraduate First Place: “Superior” by Jeffrey Carr 12 Second Place: “In Heaven” by Annie Daines 16 Third Place: “Doing Something” by Torrie Fedor 19 ESSAY Graduate First Place: “Scars” by Jacoba Mendelkow 23 Second Place: “Wood Work” by Russell Winn 28 Third Place: “Saving Smudgy” by Diane Bush 32 Third Place: “Walking Home” by Jacqueline Harris 36 Undergraduate First Place: “Depth of Field” by Ashley Anderson 40 Second Place: “Home Again” by Gina Ricks 45 Third Place: “Closer to Home” by Marinda Burningham 49 Table of Contents POETRY Graduate First Place: “When Cancer Dropped by For Dinner” by Chelsi Sutton-Linderman 53 Second Place: “The Torturer’s Wife” by Daniel Nyikos 54 Third Place: “In Memory of Me” by Lyra Hilliard 55 Undergraduate First Place: “In the Kitchen at Fifteen on a Saturday Afternoon” and 56 “Electric Plant Pantuom” by Ellen Reimschussel 57 Second Place: “Becoming Lilith” by Cori Ashcroft 58 Second Place: “Hankou Hair Salon” by Nicole Warenski 59 Third Place: “His Cats” by Amanda E. Burnett 60 Third Place: “Mother” by Laura Hatch and “Day Six” by Laura Hatch 61 ART Graduate First Place: “Black Chandelier” by Sarah Sisson 54 Second Place: “abiding time” by Jacqueline Harris 1 Third Place: “Passing Logan Canyon” by Darren Edwards 12 Undergraduate First Place: “On the River Walk” by Ashley Andersen 32 Second Place: “See a Different Side” by Melanie Woodford 9 Third Place: “Forgotten Fairytale” by Simone Suddreth 16 Table of Contents ART (CONT.) Honorable Mention Graduate “Strawberry Ranch” by Darren Edwards 19 “Hideaway” by Darren Edwards 62 “procession” by Jacqueline Harris 36 “counts the time in quarter-times” by Jacqueline Harris 40 Undergraduate “GBHART” by StaceyAnn Allen 5 “Afternoon in Logan” by Ashley Andersen 23 “The Back Road, North Logan” by Ashley Andersen 27 “Welcome Darkness” by Rachel Hammond 49 “The Face of Nature” by Elise Hintz 57 “Split” by Justin Potter 61 “Sea against Sky” by Simone Suddreth 45 “Open Window” by Simone Suddreth 59 “Bleed Carbonation” by Melanie Woodford 56 THAD AND JENNY BOX CREATIVE WRITING AWARDS The Thad and Jenny Box Creative Writing Award is bestowed on the “best of the best.” One graduate and one undergraduate winner are selected in a second round of judging based on first place winners from all categories. Graduate: Chelsi Sutton-Linderman “Bliss” First Place Graduate Fiction 1 “When Cancer Dropped by for Dinner” First Place Graduate Poetry 53 Undergraduate: Ellen Reimschussel “In the Kitchen at Fifteen on a Saturday Afternoon” and 56 “Electric Plant Pantoum” First Place Undergraduate Poetry 57 Fiction 1ST PLACE GRADUATE FICTION it is an overstatement to blame the loss of my soul on “Bliss”—that’s the name of the store see, Bliss, which strikes me as very ironic about 83.7% of the time. Bliss And I am working here just so I can pay for school, which is a fact that should be by Chelsi Sutton-Linderman, Thad and Jenny Box Creative Writing Award Recipient understood right off the bat. This is not my career. However, simply claiming that I am working here only to pay for school still does not render it an entirely respectable occupa- I work at the local sex shop. That’s right, for a measly $7.00 an hour I point customers to- tion. Sometimes to make myself feel better, I pretend that I work as a cashier at the Bliss wards and then ring up the commodities to facilitate their various carnal desires. Some- Shoppe, spelled the cute, sophisticated way, amazing that an extra “pe” can make the times though, I can’t help but wonder if, for $7.00 an hour, for the past year I have been whole establishment seem less seedy. Pretending I am a sales associate at the Bliss Bou- slowly losing my soul. tique is even better, more French, more chic, more mod. On occasion, especially when meeting people I will never see again on a bus or in the grocery line, I claim that I am a relationship therapist. But the bottom line is that Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 3 pm to 9 pm I am a clerk at Bliss. I live for Tuesdays and Sundays. I realized I was losing my soul last Wednesday, “Hump Day” as the zany calendar be- hind the register claims in bold, blue letters. A certain segment of customers think this old turn-of-phrase is particularly funny given the items that stock our shelves, and every Wednesday at least one idiot will chuckle and gargle the words, “Hump Day” under his breath, as he digs for the correct change to purchase his condoms, or personal lubricant, or body chocolate. Which isn’t bad, by the way, the body chocolate, I mean. Sometimes when Bliss is completely dead and I have another three hours left on a shift, I crack open a box of those little chocolate jars and suck Cherry Delight and Caramel Bonbon from the slick plastic spoon I carry in my purse. I mark the box down on an inventory sheet in the back as “damaged during shipment” so no one will notice or ask me any questions. Though being questioned by the management or my co-workers isn’t much of a concern, they offer just the basic inquiries, “Can you take an extra shift?”, “Do you know where we are back-stocking the bullwhips now?” It is the customers who ask the scary questions: “Is it OK to insert ___________ into your body?” (Fill in the blank with any- thing you want—I’ve heard it all) “Is this edible as well?”, “Is Icy-Hot safe?” Sometimes their petitions are more philosophical in nature. My favorites come “abiding time” by Jacqueline Harris from tight-lipped devotees of various strict religions who would die on the spot if their Second Place Graduate Art pastor were to catch them in the shop, “Is this OK with God?” How am I supposed to answer that? Because employees are offered monthly com- Sounds cliché right? Besides we all work those jobs at some point—the office temp, mission, bonuses I try to look clerical and reply somberly, “Yes. Yes it is.” On such occa- the clerk at the liquor store, the grave shift at Bob’s Kwik Self-Serve Station. Crap careers sions I think about adding “Spiritual Counselor” to my list of positions at Bliss. are the stuff our high school and college memories are made of. We bow our heads, serve Wednesday’s are usually quiet here; especially when the snow floats and flurries our fries, and mumble beneath our breath, “It is just so I can pay for school.” So, perhaps outside and the temperature falls. Bliss is located right along Main Street in this sleepy, 1 Scribendi Fiction conservative town. It neighbors an engagement ring shop and a bridal boutique—all three This man was no different. He wore cowboy boots, not the crisp trendy type that of which have been open for twenty years or more. Sometimes we joke that you can take the car-salesmen in town try to pull off, but the real-worked-in-lined-with-dirt leather kind, care of a courtship’s entire climax in one afternoon, grab an engagement ring, walk next the sort he would have pulled on and off again for years and years as he came and went door, find a gown, and finish your one stop shopping with something lacy and white for from the farm. Cracked crow’s feet and other thick creases in his face matched those in your wedding night.