The Middlebury Campus

Issue date: 10/18/07 Section: Features

Media Credit: Avery Rain Ward Prize nominees gather for annual awards ceremony on Oct. 12. Emma Cline '10 received first prize for her short story, "What is Lost?" [Click to enlarge]

Associate Professor of English Kathleen Skubikowski's voice called out from the podium, climbing through the clouds of hope and anticipation that filled the air above the anxious crowd, "Every year faculty watch for outstanding writing by first-year students in every course they teach..."

Oct. 12 marked the presentation of the 29th annual Paul Ward '25 Memorial Prize for outstanding writers from the Class of 2010. All first-year work, either from seminars or other classes, is eligible for submission. From a field of 44 nominees, the largest in the prize's history, Emma Cline's '10 short story "What is Lost" took top honors, followed by essays from runner-ups Beth Connolly '10 and Halley Ostergard '10.

"Her story was amazing," Connolly said. "I was totally knocked out. It was so powerful."

The Ward Prize was not the first accolade Cline has received for her prolific prose. Her stories have been published in Tin House, a Portland-based literary magazine, and Cline's professor, David Bain, has said that she is on the "fast-track" to becoming a writer.

After graduating from high school at the age of 16, Cline took a year off before coming to college. During her hiatus she worked on a farm as a freelance reporter and took lessons to obtain her pilot's license. Cline's talents provide her with infinite possibilities, within and outside the realm of traditional schooling.

"I'm taking time off next semester and don't know if I'll return to college at all," Cline said. "If I were to return to college, I'd be interested in studying architecture, bioregionalism, landscape and narrative and the West."

Presently immersed in the prose and poems of such writers as Stephen Millhauser, John McPhee and Leonard Cohen, Cline draws from her own experiences as well as the ideas and experiences of others. In addition to working on a piece with professor Don Mitchell, lecturer in the English Department and Program in Film and Media Culture, about her travels this past summer, Cline is also training to be a writing tutor.

Continued...

Page 1 of 3 next >

Article Tools