Quill ceremony and poetry reading slated May 6

The Crowder Quill, a literary and art magazine of Crowder College, will host the annual awards ceremony with a campus- and community-wide poetry reading. The event will take place Friday, May 6 at 7 p.m. in the Elsie Plaster Community Center Auditorium on the campus of Crowder College in Neosho, Mo.

The public is welcome. RSVPs for poetry are requested; others are welcome to the microphone as time permits. Poetry that is NOT published in this edition of the Quill is encouraged, as the magazine will be made available following the ceremony.

“This year’s ceremony and publication continues the 36-year tradition of our mission to encourage and showcase our area’s authors and artists,” said Latonia Bailey, Crowder Quill adviser since 1994.

The event will also include the announcement of those whose entries were chosen to be published in the 2016 edition and awards presentations.

All published entrants will receive a certificate for gold, silver, bronze or honorable mention. Award placements will not be announced until the ceremony. Afterwards, light refreshments will be served.

Hand-delivered Quill art entries are now available for return by arrangement. Entrants should email Lbailey@crowder.edu<mailto:Lbailey@crowder.edu> or call 417-455-5410.

A PowerPoint Presentation will showcase the winning photography and art entries during the ceremony. Remaining entries will not be displayed but will be available for pickup after the ceremony.

The Magazine Production class comprise the staff and judged the entries, designed the magazine, and host the ceremony. Current staff members are Clara Brodeur, Diamond; Ulises Camacho, Rogers, Ark.; Rebekah Clay, Pineville; Whitney Crinklaw, Stockton; Vada Harris, Neosho; Megan Kehoe, Neosho; Celeste Ponce, Neosho; Katherine Pollock, Neosho: Christian Smith, Joplin; Kaylee Starks, Granby; Drew Young, Pierce City; and adviser Latonia Bailey, Goodman.

The Crowder Quill recently received a national award of “Best Community College Literary Magazine” from the American Scholastic Press Association for the 2015 edition, the third consecutive year for the prestigious award.

Members of the 2015 staff were Alexis Arenas-Andrade, Springdale, Ark.; Kerrigan Arnold, Reeds Springs; Alyssa Beck, Buffalo; Jacob Dalton, Anderson; Logan Hamby, Neosho; MaryBeth Hertzog, Pleasant Hill; Kate Kelley, Neosho; Ashley McGee, Jane; Sofia Sanchez Salcedo, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Owen Swearingen, Wheaton; Drew Young, Pierce City; and adviser Latonia Bailey, Goodman.

Begun in 1980, the Quill is published each spring; the contest deadline is Feb. 1 each year, and divisions are high school, Crowder students, and community adults. The categories are fiction, nonfiction, poetry, 2D art, 3D art, digital art, color photography, and black and white photography. Entries are received online via the website www.CrowderQuill.com<http://www.CrowderQuill.com>.