Creative Writing Hosts 3rd Annual "Golden Gloves Literary Competition & Literary Fair"
On Tuesday, December 6th, Fordham's nine creative writing classes squared off in a super literary competition in the 3rd annual Golden Gloves Competition & Literary Fair. The classes competed at Fordham Lincoln Center for three prizes: Ram d'Or (Best in Show), Most Innovative, and Audience Award. Representatives from each class presented short selections of original work for judges Professors Frank Boyle and James Kim.
Before the competition, creative writing students enjoyed dinner and had the opportunity to learn about student publications from both campuses at a literary fair. Staff from FLASH, Bricolage, The Comma, MODE, The Rival, and the paper participated in the event.
This year's competition featured the following classes: Literary Arts Management (Prof. Rita Banerjee), Poetry - What Good is It? (Prof. Chris Brandt), Experimental Ink (Prof. Erica Ehrenberg), Architecture & the Sky (Prof. Sarah Gambito), First Flint (Prof. Sarah Gambito), Plot Clinic (Prof. Jennifer Gilmore), Lyric Essay (Prof. Jennifer Gilmore), Master Class: Writers As Shapers (Prof. Stacey D'Erasmo), and Writing Autobiography (Prof. Elizabeth Stone).
Once the classes had presented their work, the judges deliberated on the winners of Ram d'Or and Most Innovative. Before announcing the winners, the judges praised each of the classes' works. Professor James Kim called the event "one of my favorites of the year."
The Ram d'Or went to Professor Stacey D'Erasmo's Writers as Shapers class for Jonah Greebel's reading of his short story "Déjà Vu." The Most Innovative award, given to the most experimental presentation of student writing, appropriately went to Professor Erica Ehrenberg's Experimental Ink class. James Douglas and Katherine Duggan brought the prize home for their hyper-detailed accounts of hot and sour soup on a China Town bus and a one night stand in the Tremont neighborhood of the Bronx, respectively. Both were experimental prose pieces in response to work by the French writer Georges Perec.
Finally, audience members were able to cast their votes from their smart phones for the Audience Award. The night's final prize went to Professor Chris Brandt's Poetry - What Good is It? class who read a selection of three poems. The poems were written by Nina Harris ("Writing A Poem To Be Read In Class That My Peers Are Going To Edit. Shit"), Lia Paolucci ("the president we need" - read by Lia, Tyler Dikun and Emmanuel Raudales), and Emma Nanamaker ("and to all the little girls").