Published: November 13, 2009 12:16 am      

WVS-MSU contest names photography winners, first-place fiction

First-place winners for the West Virginia South adventure-themed contests for short fiction and photography, sponsored by Mountain State University, have been named.

Karen McBride of Jumping Branch is the first-place winner of the West Virginia Adventure short fiction contest. Judges selected her entry, “The Snipe Surprise,” because it best suited the contest’s adventure theme, was well-written and had a strong connection to the region.

McBride’s story will appear in the December-January issue of West Virginia South, which is due on newsstands at the end of this month.

Entries for the fiction portion of the contest were read by members of the Beckley Newspapers editorial management staff, who selected the first-place winner and 10 candidates for other honors. Those 10 finalists were then given to an English professor at Mountain State University to make final decisions regarding second and third place, plus honorable mentions.

The additional fiction category winners, for second and third place plus honorable mentions, are still being considered with the assistance of the professor, explained Audrey Stanton, director of operations for West Virginia South magazine.

“We had planed to announce those winners in today’s paper,” Stanton said. “Unfortunately, we underestimated the amount of time necessary to consider all the entries, and we do apologize. We are very hopeful to have those names ready to release in the coming week.”

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Judging has been completed for the photography category.

First place is awarded to Michael Brown of Beckley. His entry, “Symphony,” depicts a friend fishing at the spillway of the Bluestone Dam at Hinton. It is also slated to appear in the upcoming issue of West Virginia South.

Second-place photography goes to Erin Perdue of Ceredo for “Praying Mantis.”

Carol Jones of Alderson takes third place for “Docked on the Greenbrier.”

And remaining honorable mentions are awarded to Jessie Hall of Bolt for “In Tune With Nature,” Erika Snuffer of Fayetteville for “Celebrating Wild and Wonderful” and Linda Snuffer of Cool Ridge for “Country Road, Cool Ridge.”

Entries for the photography portion of the contest were reviewed by staff photographers for Beckley Newspapers and West Virginia South. These six winners will appear in upcoming issues of West Virginia South.