By Donna Campbell Smith, Franklin County Arts Council
Franklin County Arts Council (FCAC) Writers’ Guild launched their seventh issue of County Lines: A Literary Journal on Saturday, December 14, 2019, with about thirty writers and supporters to celebrate the event, held at Vance Granville Community College’s Louisburg Campus.
The Guild was recipient of an anonymous donation to sponsor the Starving Writers Fiction Contest. One hundred sixteen writers entered the contest from across the US and other countries. The first-place winner of $500 was Ashley Memory from Asheboro, NC. Unable to attend were second-place winner Leslie Carlin of Toronto, Canada with “End of Times in the Santa Susanna Pass” and third place winner Yong Takahashi with “Full.”
The guild sponsors the annual Carolina Prize Writing Contest with two divisions: poetry and prose. Dr. Colleen M. Arnold of Lexington, VA read her winning story “Crabapples from Heaven”. Poetry winner Alice Pettyjohn read her poem “Aimless Odyssey”. Each were presented with checks for $100. Donna Campbell Smith won the cover-art contest and was awarded a $25 check.
Joyce Compton Brown, Jackie Dove-Miller, Les Brown, and Hannah Kienow were given honorable mentions for their entries in the Carolina Prize Writhing Contest. All of the winners’ works are published in the 2020 County Lines.
Writers whose works were accepted to be published in the journal and were on hand to read were Todd Warner, Donna Campbell Smith, Kathy Bundy, Jackie Dove-Miller, and Kim Hogan.
After the readings the group enjoyed a meet and great and refreshments.
Copies of County Lines: A Literary Journal are available for purchase at the Franklin County Arts Council gallery (99 South Bickett Blvd, Louisburg NC) or from Amazon.com. Proceeds benefit the arts council.
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