By Sarah Bullard
BPC Staff Writer
MOUNT VERNON— Brewton-Parker College hosted its annual Young Writers Conference Oct. 14 on the Mount Vernon Campus. The conference allowed high school students the opportunity to participate in guided workshops with faculty and writing professionals to explore writing in various creative expressions. Winners of each workshop category not only placed but were each awarded scholarships to the four year, Christian college. All participants received a $1,000 scholarship due to their impressive work. The third place winner, Candace Lilford, received $5,000 in scholarship money. Michaela Thompson won $8,000 in scholarship for second place. Willie Ford, first place winner, will receive $10,000 in scholarship for his work.
Photo above: Winners of the 2016 Brewton-Parker Young Writers Conference pose together after Friday’s awards.
Approximately 20 students from area high schools attended the event. Schools included Montgomery County High School, Vidalia Comprehensive High School, and Wheeler County High School.
All students that participated were urged to continue their writing and continually improve themselves. Additionally, Dr. Lilford, invited the winners and the rest of the participants to submit their work to The Oracle, Brewton-Parker’s newly revamped student paper.
Photo below left to right: Top three winners of the 2016 Young Writers Conference are Willie Ford, Mikayla Thompson, and Candace Lilford.
The overall winner of the 2016 Young Writers Conference, Willie Ford, participated in the Children’s Literature workshop. Second and third place winners, Michaela Thompson and Candace Lilford participated in the Computer Communication and Religious Lyric workshops, respectively.
The two-hour workshops were hosted by Brewton-Parker College professor and children’s author, Lynn Skinner. Following the conference, students were given the opportunity to meet and speak with several published authors. To learn more about the annual writing event, contact Marion Brian at mbrian@bpc.edu or look online at www.bpc.edu.