Bucks County Community College (BCCC) announced the first, second, and third place winners with a Pennsbury senior taking first place in the annual Short Fiction Contest for High School Students.
Olivia Beno, a senior at Pennsbury High School in Fairless Hills, has won first place in the annual contest for her story The Lake,” BCCC officials announced.
Sarah Lueck, a junior at Central Bucks High School West in Doylestown, won second place for “In the Bleak Midwinter.”
Sophia Ogden, a junior at Pennridge High School in Perkasie, took third place for “On the Corner of Turpin and Thistledown.”
Dr. Cecile Kandl Anderson of the college’s School of Language and Literature, which runs the contest, made the final selections. The winners will receive certificates and awards of $200, $100, and $50, respectively.
Anderson noted that Beno’s story “The Lake” was “…rich in sensory detail, creating a sense of immediacy as the reader follows along with the narrator’s journey.”
“Childhood fears juxtapose disappointment as the narrator worries about disappointing someone they love,” Anderson wrote of the first-prize entry. “In this compelling narrative we are treated to a series of events that lead to a memorable conclusion. Indeed, the reader witnesses an emotional journey that is as compelling as it is profound.”
Lueck’s story “In the Bleak Midwinter” follows a protagonist caught in a blizzard, who struggles with a lack of self-worth even as he tries to save his life.
“His salvation, and his ability to connect with others, comes from an unexpected source,” Anderson noted. “Well-crafted details create an experience wherein the reader feels like they, too, are trapped in the snow. Rich imagery and memorable characterization demonstrate the author’s ability to spin a tale that is certainly worthy of recognition.”
Ogden’s story “On the Corner of Turpin and Thistledown” is about a magical building that a woman returns to throughout her life.
“We see how beautifully elevated language, which recalls Austen, addresses the reader rather formally,” Anderson noted. “The author demonstrates a deft ability to move the character throughout her life, from young womanhood, to newlywed, to mother, to widow. Additionally, the story brilliantly considers how a neighborhood evolves over a generation — or more.”
BCCC’s School of Language and Literature runs two short fiction contests each spring: one for high school students, and one for Bucks County residents 18 and older. For more information, contact the contest coordinator Professor Elizabeth Luciano at Elizabeth.Luciano@bucks.edu .