The Simpson Beck Writing Contest for Clay County Middle and
High School will be held in April of this year. This contest is named for the late poet, Nancy Simpson, and for Reba Beck, retired art teacher for Clay County Schools. The categories for 2019, will
be writing Poetry and Personal Essay. The contest commences on April 5, 2019,
and the turn-in date for the entries is April 15. The winners will be announced
at the Hayesville High Lecture Hall, on Tuesday, April 23rd, at 7:00
PM.
This year’s judges are: Rosemary Rhodes Royston, for Poetry,
and Janice Townley Moore and Carroll S. Taylor for Personal Essay.
Rosemary Rhodes Royston holds an MFA in Writing from Spalding
University and is a lecturer at Young Harris College, Georgia. She is the
author of Splitting the Soil
(Finishing Line Press). Royston's poetry has been published in journals such as Appalachian Heritage, Split Rock Review, Southern Poetry Review,
KUDZU, Town Creek Review, and *82 Review. She’s the VP for Planning
and Special Projects at Young Harris College, where she teaches the occasional
creative writing course.
Her poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize,
she was the recipient of the 2010 Literal Latte Food Verse Award, received
Honorable Mention in a George Scarborough Poetry Contest, at the Mountain
Heritage Literary Festival, and her short fiction being selected as Honorable
Mention in the Porter Fleming Literary Awards, 2012.
Royston is treasurer for
the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West.
Janice Townley Moore, who lives in Hayesville, NC, is an
Atlanta native and Associate Professor Emerita of English at Young Harris
College. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals including The Georgia Review, Prairie Schooner, Connecticut Review, Southern Poetry Review,
Poetry East, and The Journal of the
American Medical Association.
Moore's chapbook, Teaching the Robins, was published by Finishing Line Press. Among
the anthologies that include her poems are The
Bedford Introduction to Literature, and three volumes of: The Southern Poetry Anthology: Contemporary
Appalachia, Georgia, and North Carolina from Texas Review Press.
Moore
serves as the coordinator of the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West poetry
critique group, is a Rep for the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West and is on
the poetry editorial board of The Pharos,
publication of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
Carroll S. Taylor is a graduate of Tift College (Mercer
University) with a BA in French. She holds graduate degrees in French and
English as well as an EdS in Educational Leadership. She was an educator for
forty-three years. As a secondary teacher, she taught French, English, Journalism,
Creative Writing, and ESL. She advised students in the creation and publication
of school newspapers and yearbooks. After her retirement, Taylor moved on to her
second career as a part-time instructor at Columbus State University, teaching
freshman composition.
She is the author of two young adult novels, Chinaberry Summer and Chinaberry Summer: On the Other Side.
She is currently writing the third novel in the series, Chinaberry Summer: Down by the Water. Her books emphasize
generational storytelling and respect for the valuable role of reptiles and
amphibians in our ecosystem. One of the personal highlights of publishing her
novels was her book reading held in the childhood home of Carson McCullers.
Carroll
is a member of North Carolina Writers’ Network, and the Georgia Poetry Society.
Readers may find her journal blog at chinaberrysummer.com.
Reba Beck, a former Art Instructor for Clay County Schools,
and the President of the Clay County Historical and Arts Council, and Joan
Ellen Gage, of North Carolina Writers’ Network West are sponsoring the Simpson
Beck Student Writing Contest. High School English instructor Carla T. Beck, who
is integral to this writing contest, is the contact for Clay County Middle and
High School.
