2008 Writing Awards and Selections for Print and Web

Click on the cover to read a pdf version, or stop by a Metro Writing Center, Student Services Office, Academic Resource Center, bookstore or library to pick up a hard copy.

For his poem "The Anticyclone," Steven Balters is the winner of The Metropolitan 2008 Prize for Student Writing, a 12-credit-hour tuition remission. The first runner-up, Patricia Sedlacek is awarded 9 credit hours tuition remission for her essay "The Race." The second runner-up, Amber Johnson, receives  4.5 credit hours tuition remission for her essay "The Sandbox."

The Anticyclone and Break in the Binge by Steven Balters

The Race by Patricia Sedlacek

The Sandbox by Amber Johnson

Guinness by Sarah Gregory

The Cost of Obsession by Zedeka Poindexter

An Inconvenient Suicide by Katria Wyslotsky

In Our Backyard by Glen Ross

Your Coat by Chelsea Balzer

Untitled (cover art) by Nicholas Tabor

Additional Web Selections:

Pennies from Heaven by Heather Bruno

The Secret City by Alex Rodriguez

Available Contributors' Notes:

Steven Balters is an Omaha native, sophomore in college. He attended Seattle University for a year and a half, and currently attends the University of Nebraska. He is a philosophy major who plans on attending law school, yet has always considered himself an amateur writer. He took a psychology course at Metropolitan Community College during the summer of 2007.

Zedeka Poindexter is a Nebraska native who began her interest in writing by reading autobiographies. Due to this influence, her pieces are often crafted in the first person. Her work has been featured in University of Colorado’s River Run and Slamma Lamma Ding Dong: The Anthology of Nebraska Slam Poetry.

Glen A. Ross was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. Since graduating from Gateway Electronics Institute, he has worked in electronics, information technology, and education. Currently an employee of Metropolitan Community College, Glen is preparing for a future career as a freelance writer and novelist.    

Katria Wyslotsky was raised in Chicago, moved to Omaha about ten years ago, and is an LAS transfer student at Metropolitan Community College, working to change her life and career.