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2009-2010 James Ballowe Personal Essay Contest - NOW OPEN!
*First Prize $500
*We will also award three Honorable Mention certificates to the essayists shortlisted.
*Deadline is Monday, Nov. 2, 2009.
***Download an ENTRY FORM***
James Ballowe Personal Essay
James Ballowe Personal Essay Prizes are awarded to undergraduate or graduate students whose personal essays are judged by a committee of the Department of English to satisfy the criteria of originality and quality of style and content. The personal essay is a type of creative non-fiction, ranging from autobiography to first-person commentary on contemporary and historical events. The essay is limited to 3000 of the writer's own words. Quotations do not count in the total. Eligibility is limited to students who are pursuing a degree at Bradley University.
The personal essay is a type of creative nonfiction, ranging from autobiography to first person commentary on nature, culture, contemporary or historical events. Creative nonfiction is often called a new "genre" because of the attempt to use the techniques of fiction (characterization, setting, dialogue, narration) for writing about real life, factual subjects. Well received books in this category include Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman, Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger, Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez, Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance by Henry Petroski, and Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Galdwell, autobiographies and memoirs are included in this category. Please visit James Ballowe's profile.
Essays
Little press on the prairie
Etched into endless fields of corn and beans, Illinois 41 runs south from Galesburg to U.S. 136, where it ends just east of Macomb. Two-thirds of the way down its 45-mile length, 41 veers west for a mile or so, forming the main street of Prairie City, one of the hamlets that characterize western Illinois. Read the full essay>
Farewell by James Ballowe
I have been asked to write a word or two on my forty-four years of teaching, including, of course, my thirty-six year career at Bradley. Counting the years of college students by fours, I am asked to sum up a career that has spanned nine to eleven generations. Read the full essay>
Edgar Chapman: Farewell to Jim
When Jim Ballowe announced his retirement last year, I felt mixed emotions. I was happy that Jim would be freed from the responsibilities of teaching in order to pursue his continuing literary interests, but I felt regret because of the retirements of Jim and Peggy Carter, our gracious chairperson for the nineties, for several reasons--not the least being that I will be the senior member of the English Department, certainly a dubious honor. Read the full essay>
Prevous Winners
2008-09
First Prize: $500 "John and Challys" by Chelsea Pfiester, Senior, English
Second Prize: $250 "Just a Minnett" by Cherity Cook, Grad Student, English
Third Prize: $100 "Beautiful Dissonance" by Jessamyn Luong, Grad Student, English
Honorable Mention: "Grandparents" by Adriana Gradea, "Oklahoma Summers" by James Kostas, "With Great Power..." by John King
2007-08
First Prize: $500 "About Things We Learn From Books" by Carolyn Dorant, Senior, English
Second Prize: $250 "Wonder What the Poor Folks are Doin' Tonight" by Michelle Cusack, Graduate Student English
Third Prize: $100 "Replacing Old Oak Trees" by Alexander Russell, Senior, History and Education
2006-07
First Prize: $500 "Fish Sauce and Onion Grease" by Bailey Shaw
Second Prize: $250 "Summer Camp" by Lisa Stout
Third Prize: $50 "Loop Your Letters or Die" by Matthew Shramm
Third Prize: $50 "The Perfect Still" by Ben Sparks
2005-06
First Prize: $500 "Myself Through Food" by Abigail Feucht
Second Prize: $250 "Woes of a Flat-Chested English Major" by Stephanie Mader
2004-05
First Prize: $500 David VonBehren, "Angels."
Second Prize: $250 James O'Connor, "Snoring Comma Rabbits."
Honorable Mention: Cathy Buckingham: "My Son-the 10th Mountain Commando.", Lyndsey Ronfeldt: "Simply.", Matthew Anderson: "Fish Out of Water."
2003-04
First Prize: $500 Laurie McBride, graduate student, English "Baby Blues"
Second Prize: $250 Sara Barfield, graduate student, English "Transplant Shock and the Letter 'J'"
Honorable Mention: "Converstations with the Dead"by Kurt Ashton Wagner, Psychology Major, "Finding My Stories" by Lyndsey Ronfeldt, English Major, "We Could Have Traded Pants" By Anna Crilly, English Major, "Nighttime Realities" by Brian McMurray, Multimedia Major
2002-03
First Prize: $500 William D. Mayo's "Indelible Marks--A Legacy in Letters"
Honorable Mention: "How to Become a Pray-er with Apologies to Lori Moore." by Barbara Love , "My New York." by Maria King, "Life Lessons." by Kara Chavez, "Dear Mom, Thank You For My Underprivileged Childhood." by Matthew Crain, "Live from Peoria." by Laurie McBride
2001-02
First Prize: $500 Sarah Wright, "Trading Spaces"
Second Prize: $250 Maria King, All-American Funny Man
2000-01
First Prize: $500 "Passing" by Kate Grimaldi
Second Prize: $250 "A Touch of Sentimentality" by Vanessa Hall
1999-2000
First Prize: $500 "A Tender Squalor" by Vanessa Hall
Second Prize: $250 "My Next Life: Personal Reflections Dealing with Reincarnation, Strippers, and Cupcakes" by Matt Sheppo
Honorable Mention:Lee Mather "Communions", Jennifer Orr "Parental Guidance Required", Sarah Wright "Waltzing with Walden"
1998-99
First Prize: $500 Lisa Beliveau: "Restoration"
Second Prize: $250 Jeff DeLaRosa: "A Technophobic Confession"
Third Prize: $100 Lee Mather: "Like So Many Feathers in an Eagle's Wing"