Creative Writing Hosts 4th Annual Golden Gloves Literary Competition & Literary Fair
On Monday, December 4th, Fordham's eight creative writing classes participated in the 4th annual Golden Gloves Competition & Literary Fair. The classes competed at Fordham Lincoln Center for three prizes: Ram d'Or: Best in Show, Best Experiment, and Audience Award. Representatives from each class presented short, five minute selections of original work for judge Joseph O. Legaspi, Fulbright and NYFA fellow and acclaimed poet.
Before the competition, creative writing students enjoyed dinner and had the opportunity to learn about student publications from both campuses at the literary fair. Staff from Ampersand, Bricolage, HerCampus, The Observer, and the paper participated.
This year's Golden Gloves literary competition featured the following classes: The Long Poem (Prof. Chris Brandt), Publishing: Theory & Practice (Prof. Stacey D’Erasmo), My House But Not My House: Surrealism and the Imagination (Erica Ehrenberg), First Flint (Prof. Sarah Gambito), A Writer in New York (Prof. Sarah Gambito), Fiction Boot Camp (Prof. Jennifer Gilmore), Writing for Teens in an Adult World (Prof. Jennifer Gilmore), Flawless/Formation/Freedom: Writing About Race, Gender & Popular Culture (Prof. Scott Poulson-Bryant).
After each class presented original work, judge Joseph O. Legaspi deliberated on the winners of Ram d'Or and Best Experiment, while Fordham’s 2017-2018 Writer at Risk in Resident Kanchana Ugbabe addressed the audience and read from her short story collection, Soulmates, which explores being an insider and an outsider in both Indian and Nigerian cultures.
It was the first ever sweep for the prizes. The Ram d'Or went to Professor Sarah Gambito’s First Flint class, and the Best Experiment went to Professor Sarah Gambito's A Writer in New York class. Audience members casted their votes from their smartphones at the end of evening, and voted to award the final prize of the evening, the Audience Award, to Professor Sarah Gambito’s First Flint class.