Catherine Smith ’26 placed first in the Frederick Hartmann Creative Writing Contest sponsored by the Department of English Creative Writing program.
Each year the Creative Writing program sponsors three contests focusing on poetry, fiction and nonfiction. Elon students submit work that is judged by a visiting speaker.
This spring semester, Rax King, a cultural critic and essayist, visited campus on April 13-15 to judge the nonfiction writing contest on April 14 at the Oak House.
During the event King read from her recent collection “Sloppy,” interacted with students and selected the contest winners.
“The submissions were truly all such a pleasure to read, and I had such a hard time narrowing them down,” King said.
Catherine Smith ’26 placed first for her piece “a meditation with my hands in my bra.” Madelyn Fourie ’28 placed second for her piece “Cohabitating With A Stink Bug.” Finn Wilkinson, ’26 placed third for their piece “Ibrahim-ya ‘Uber’ Driver.”
Smith, a journalism major, wrote a lyric essay that explores girlhood, bodily self-consciousness, inherited femininity and the complicated relationship some women have with their bodies. The piece moves through fragmented memories to allow the reader to move through memory and sensation with the speaker.
“I wrote this piece because I was interested in how femininity is learned long before we fully understand our bodies,” Smith said. “So many of the feeling’s girls have toward themselves — shame, fascination, desire, insecurity and tenderness — begin very early and are shaped by family, the media, beauty rituals and observation. I wanted to inspire women to make peace with their embodiment of femininity and younger selves. We don’t have to be embarrassed about who we are becoming.”
The piece marks one of the more emotional and honest pieces she has written.
“I think this essay became about ownership — about moving from viewing the body as something to critique or perform, to something that’s fully your own,” Smith said. “Writing about that helped me find more tenderness in a way I view myself.”
Smith never dreamed she would publish a piece like this. King and Smith’s professor, Negesti Kaudo ’15, assistant professor of English, made her feel confident to trust her voice.
Kaudo organized King’s visit and contest submissions.
“Rax King was on campus for three days and constantly raved about how wonderful and engaged Elon students were, and she even took the time to enjoy a lowkey meal with students at McEwen on her last day, a moment enjoyed by all,” Kaudo said.
Each award recipient received a monetary prize funded through the William Maness Fund. William Maness ’38, an English major, started the fund to honor his friend, alumni Frederick Hartman, also an English major.
This fall, Jared Lemus, a fiction writer, judged the fiction creative writing contest and Brittany Rogers, a poetry writer, judged the poetry writing contest, while also sharing their work.