Quill Ceremony and Poetry Reading Slated for May 11

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 Thursday, May 11 at 7 p.m. in 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 event and publication will feature a posthumous dedication to the founder of the magazine, Dan Richard, the one who began this 37-year tradition of encouraging and showcasing 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 2017 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 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 Derek Shore, Cassville; Carter Hickman, Neosho; Victoria Davidson, Neosho; Drew Aggus, Joplin; Nathan Gamble, Neosho; Kaitlyn Welch, Seneca; Amy Leyva, Seneca; Amy Moua, Granby; Megan Murphy, Neosho; Maggie Baker, Joplin; Amanda Burt, Miami, Okla; 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 2016 edition, the fourth consecutive year for the prestigious award. Members of the 2016 staff were 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.

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.

Winners of the contest, sorted by hometown, are as follows:
Anderson: Jilberto Alejo, Dora Bergen, Sarah Bodine, Sierra Chappie, Octavianna Hackett, Sara Schaffer, Leandra Toomoth, Henri Whitehead;

Aurora: Andrew Benton, Kim McCully-Mobley,Kylie Martinez, Bentonville: Gabi Abbott, Julia Aden, Victoria Bussiere, Rylin Cogan, Carl Junction: Adrian Bittner, Marley Fort, Samantha Griffith, Breana Miller, Stormi Norton, Morgan Spencer, Avery Taylor, Jessica Sellers;

Carthage: Paul Cameron, Crystal Witherspoon;

Cassville: Derek Shore;

Decatur: Cailey Funkhouser;

Exeter: Tyler Dallis;

Goodman: Latonia Bailey, Mary Smith, Natalie Staib, Dawn Williamson;

Granby: Jacqueline Cole, Amy Moua;

Joplin: Drew Aggus, Maggie Baker, Becca Brown, Ximena Figueroa, Joanne Kim, Sophia Miller, M Nichols, Billie Holladay Skelley, Jera White, Gage Williams, Jed Hardy;

Lamar: Sarah Riggs, Autumn Shelton;

Lanagan: Mason Moots;

Miami: Amanda Burt;

Monett: Sobirkhonov Akromhon, Alex Bahl, John Baty, Jr., Itzel Cervantes, Caytlin Conrad, Sierra Jensen, Hanna Pitts, Amy Sampson, Grace Wormington, Emilee Kuschel;

Neosho: Victoria Davidson, Marcy Abercrombie, Barry Charter , Tyler Eads, Nathan Gamble, Carter Hickman, Camrie Houck, Megan Kehoe, Breanna Marcoux, Rylee Miller, Megan Murphy,  Nathaniel Thomas, Emily Waldrop, Jacob Walker, Kaitlyn Welch, Leslie Wright;

Noel: Matthew Brewer, Isaac Gardner, Hanna Schmit, Hope Wolfe;

Pineville: Rebekah Clay, Julia Gillean, Triniti Torrez;

Purdy: Bayleigh Schad, Richland: Christian Trusty;

Seligman: Samantha Gundel;

Seneca: Sarah Hill, Tessela Jeffers, Amy Leyva;

Sheldon: Titus Baumgartner;

Webb City: Travis Scheerer, Margarite Stever;

Wheaton: Lyda Yang