Press Release

Story of abandoned family wins first place writing prize

Jodi Varon, of La Grande, OR, was at a loss for answers when her father abandoned the family to embark on a month-long gambling spree. During that time, and following her parents' divorce, she took comfort in a childish road game, called Quizzac. "When Quizzac Was Cherry," her account of the life-altering incident won first place this year in a national writing competition. Varon was selected from about 1,500 writers nationwide as winner of the $1,000 Prize for Nonfiction in the eighth consecutive New Millennium Writing Awards.

Two Virginians walked away with the other two $1,000 prizes. Sarah C. Honenberger, of Orange, VA, won the First Place Fiction prize for her story, "Deep Breathing," about a man who runs away to a secluded cabin to rethink his marriage. Sam Witt, of Richmond, VA, won the Poetry Prize for "Late Summer Fever," his poem about a childhood illness that coincided with the birth of a colt.

The national contest is sponsored by New Millennium Writings, a twice-annual journal of stories, essays and poems published each summer and winter in Knoxville, TN by prize-winning News-Sentinel columnist and short-story writer Don Williams, founding editor of NMW. Awards are offered for poetry, fiction and nonfiction, in an effort to promote writers and foster a fresh appreciation for the printed word as we enter the next millennium. The winning entries appear in the Winter 1999-2000 issue, on sale for $7.95 at many Barnes & Noble and other bookstores across the country. The issue contains articles about the close friendship but far different fates of prize-winning writers Cormac McCarthy and Leslie Garrett, also, a memoir of the late Poet Laureate Howard Nemerov; a fictional look at the spiritual implications of the flight of Apollo 14; an account of a man who stumbles upon the Meaning of Life... he thinks..., and the story of a young man intent upon returning his dead father's boots to him. The issue also contains five distinctive short stories, poetry, graphic arts, humor, photography, advice, letters to the editor, and much more.

More than 1,500 entries were submitted in three categories for the awards, which are given twice annually. Submissions came from all 50 states and several other countries. Judges in the contest were Scripps Howard Newspaper Hall of Fame writer Fred Brown, novelist and columnist David Hunter, poet Marilyn Kallet, writers Jon Manchip White, Allen Wier and Williams. These judges also will choose the next winners.

Those receiving Honorable Mentions are listed as follows, by category:

For information on the current competition, view the New Contest Guidelines

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