NVCC announces winners of writing contest

The winners of the 20th annual Writing Competition at the Manassas Campus of Northern Virginia Community were recognized recently during a ceremony that featured special guest Robert Lesman reading his poetry.

Lesman retired from NVCC last year after teaching English for 38 years. His poetry has been published in several books.

The winners received cash prizes of $100 for first place, $75 for second place and $50 for third place in four categories: essay, one-act play, poetry and short fiction.

Daniel Randle of Chantilly earned first place in the essay category for “Pseudo-Intellectual Pseudo-Insomniac.” Second place went to Nikhita Karki of Centreville for “Eighteen Years in Sixty Minutes” and Cathlene S. Baptista of Fairfax took third for “Rob Sonic.”

In the one act-play classification, Margaret Poethig of Arlington won first place for “The Flagger.” Donald J. Tyrrell of Dumfries earned second place for “Romeo ET Limerick” and Charissa Bowar of Manassas got third for “Dinner after Death.”

Christina Grieco of Chantilly captured honors in the poetry category for “Mundane Paperwork and Ulterior Motives.”

Ruth King of Catharpin received second place for “Metamorphosis,” and Andra Aniroodh of South Riding took third place for “Sleep.”

All prizes in the short fiction category went to repeat winners. Baptista took first place for “A Tragic Day.” Randle earned second place for “South by Southwest” and Bowar got third for “Sarah Carr.”

Many of the winners are published in the 2009 issue of “Out of Chaos,” the Manassas Campus literary magazine.