Skip to Content
Sinclair College
Sinclair College
Apply Course Schedule Register Viewbook Visit
Apply Course Schedule Register Viewbook Visit

Spectrum Awards

Each year, the English Department honors excellence in student writing through the Spectrum Awards. Essays from ENG 1101, 1201, 1131, as well as essays from our creative writing courses, are nominated for awards. As part of the Spectrum Awards Ceremony, we also honor awardees from the League for Innovation Student Writing Contest and the Paul Laurence Dunbar Poetry Contest.

2022 Spectrum Awards for Excellence in Student Writing

  • Expository Essay: Grayson Zahora, "Be Proud" 
  • Literature Essay: Ben O'Keefe, "Literatry Analysis of 'A Model of Christian Charity'"
  • Research Essay: Em McGowan, "Non-Standard English Is Not Incorrect English"
  • Best Overall Essay: Grayson Zahora, "Be Proud"
  • Outstanding English Major: Lyndsey Larson
  • Outstanding Creative Writing Major: Ismael Mujahid
  • Outstanding ELL Writer: Elizabeth Lopez

For more information about the Spectrum Awards, contact Caroline Reynolds, Director. caroline.reynolds@sinclair.edu

Annual Creative Writing Winners

Poetry, High School Category

  • First place: Allison Xu, "Sky Lanterns"
  • Second place: Hunter Wiggins, "Reminiscing"
  • Third place: Hailey Berry, "Stages of Grief"

Fiction

  • First place: Ismael Mujahid, "Jeopardy"
  • Second place: Allison Xu, "The Golden Coating"
  • Third place: Sophia Hegyi, "Washed Away

Poetry, Adult Category

  • First place: Catherine Waszczak, "Saturday Mornings"
  • Second place: Ismael Mujahid, "The Firmaments"
  • Third place: Kelly Brumbaugh, "Little Toy Soldier" 

Non-Fiction

  • First place: Aniyah Rosales, "Don't Worry About What I Am"
  • Second place: Juaniya Johnson, "LGBTQ Discrimination" 

For more information about the Creative Writing Awards contact Adrienne Cassel, Director. adrienne.cassel@sinclair.edu

The 2022 Gary Mitchner Prize for Formal Poetry

  • Emma Winchester, "Sun and Moon"
  • Dana Fleetham, "WWMD"

The 2022 Deanna Pickard Prize for Poetry

  • Bonni Miles, "the one who knows"
  • Madison Harnish, "claps and rick flares"

For more information on the Gary Mitchner Prize for Formal Poetry and the Deanna Pickard Prize for Poetry contact Caroline Reynolds, Director. caroline.reynolds@sinclair.edu