Student Writers Honored

4-21-97

University Park, Pa. -- The Department of English at the Pennsylvania State University has announced the 1997 winners in three creative writing contests sponsored by the University: the Katey Lehman Awards, the Eddie Nichols Awards, and the James "Jake" Cranage Awards.

The Katey Lehman Awards, named for the late Katey Lehman, a columnist for the Centre Daily Times and a 1942 graduate of Penn State, are made annually in journalism, poetry, and fiction. This year the awards in journalism went to Shannon Eberly, an environmental resource management major from Myerstown; Amy Marino, a journalism major from McKeesport; and to Julie Randall, a journalism major from York.

The Lehman awards in poetry were given to Christopher Baronner, a photography major from State College; to Sneha Desai, a general sciences major from Pittsburgh; to Lauren Connolly, an English major from Coraopolis; and to Virginia Robinson, an English and Spanish major, from Port Matilda. Four students won Lehman Awards in fiction: Crystal Velasquez, an English major from Flushing, NY; Krissy Edgar, an English major from Latrobe; Andrew Debes, a journalism major from York; and Jennifer Locke, a secondary education major from Warmister.

The Eddie Nichols Short Fiction Awards were established in memory of Edward J. Nichols, who taught writing in the English Department from 1947 until 1964. This year's winners are David Schonfeld, a communications major from Lafayette Hill; Krissy Edgar, who also won a Lehman Award in Fiction; and Jill Hochman, an English major from McKeesport.

The James "Jake" Cranage Awards in Poetry were recently established by David and Judith Cranage of Tyrone in memory of their son Jake. The first awardees of this prize were Christopher Baronner, who also won a Lehman Award in poetry; Jeffrey Carpineta, a philosophy major from Trevose; and Andrew Smeltz, an English major from Quarryville.

All fifteen students were honored at ceremonies celebrating their creative achievements. Each honoree was given a cash prize, an awards certificate, and a portfolio of the winning entries.

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Contact: Christy Rambeau (814) 865-7517 office or email cmr7@psu.edu