Georgia College Students Invited to Enter 2009 Agnes Scott Writers' Festival Contest

Georgia college and university students may submit creative writing entries to the 2009Agnes Scott College Writers’ Festival contest until Dec. 15, 2008.

“The Writers' Festival contest is an opportunity for student writers to get their work critiqued by internationally known novelists, poets, dramatists and essayists; to see their work published in a beautiful magazine; to make connections with other outstanding student writers throughout the state and incidentally to win a fairly large cash prize,” says Rachel Trousdale, associate professor of English and contact for writers submitting their work.

The annual Writers’ Festival will be held March 26 -27 at Agnes Scott College. Featured writers Anita Desai and Junot Diaz will give a joint reading in Gaines Chapel March 26 at 8 p.m. and Memye Curtis Tucker, an Agnes Scott graduate, will read from her work at 10 a.m. in the Winter Theatre March 27. Pulitzer-nominated playwright Quiara Hudes, who wrote the book for “In the Heights,” 2008's Tony winner for Best Musical, will join the visiting writers to judge the competition and lead workshops for the finalists.

A first place prize of $500 will be awarded to each winner selected in four categories: creative nonfiction, fiction, playwriting and poetry. Finalists will be notified in January and their work will be published in the festival magazine in March. After a congratulatory luncheon on campus, winners will be invited to a workshop led by one of the visiting professional writers.

The Writers’ Festival contest accepts entries from students enrolled in any undergraduate or graduate program in a college or university in Georgia. Previously published work is not accepted and writers retain copyright after it appears in the festival magazine. Writers may submit materials in multiple genres and must conform to all of the guidelines to be considered. Entrants should send submissions to Rachel Trousdale, 2009 Agnes Scott College Writers Festival Contest, Agnes Scott College, 141 E. College Ave., Decatur, Ga. 30030. All entries must be postmarked by the deadline, Dec 15, 2008. Guidelines can be reviewed by visiting the Agnes Scott Web site at:

http://www.agnesscott.edu/events/writersfestival/creativewritingcompetition.aspx .

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Emory Fellow Wins Whiting Writers' Award

Laleh Khadivi, a fellow in Emory University's Creative Writing Program, has received a 2008 Whiting Writers' Award. The $50,000 award, which annually recognizes 10 young writers, was presented to Khadivi yesterday in New York City. (http://www.whitingfoundation.org/whiting_2008.html)

Khadivi was honored for her first book, "The Age of Orphans," a historical novel set in Iran during the first Shah's ascent to power. Born in Esfahan, Iran, Khadivi is of Kurdish and Persian heritage.

"The Age of Orphans" follows the life of a Kurdish boy whose family is killed by the armies of the Shah as part of a "modernizing effort." The boy is then adopted into those same armies and taught to kill his own people.

This first book is part of a trilogy that follows the lives of three generations of Kurdish men and will be published by Bloomsbury in March. "The award gives me more time to work on the triology," says Khadivi, adding that when her teaching stint at Emory ends, she is considering taking a year off to work on the next book.

Khadivi, who has lived in a variety of countries, is a graduate of Atlanta International School and now calls the United States home. Previously, she was a documentary filmmaker and directed "900 Women," a film about incarcerated women in Louisiana. She has produced a number of other films that focus on the criminal justice system.

She holds an undergraduate degree from Reed College and an MFA degree from Mills College. Khadivi is currently the Fellow in Fiction at Emory, a two-year appointment for those holding a graduate degree in creative writing and who have a manuscript underway.

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