The student editors of the 2016 issue of ABSENCE: Penn State Greater Allegheny’s Literary and Visual Art Review have selected two winners for this year's High School Creative works contest: Chloe Fine from Elizabeth Forward High School in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, for her poem, "The Beekeeper,” and Cordilia James from Central High School in Macon, Georgia, for her short story, "It's Perfectly Normal."
Each winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship to the campus. In addition, the winning work by each author will be published in this year's issue.
According to Clifford Manlove, associate professor of English and senior faculty adviser to ABSENCE, “Each year, we get some great works by high school seniors from across the country and it is a nice way to promote the campus and our four-year English degree, too. And, of course, it helps us recruit talented new editors for ABSENCE.”
The student winners are also invited to read their work at the "Celebration of the Arts" event from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 28, in the Ostermayer Room in the Student Community Center on campus. Complementary copies of this year's issue will be available for the first time at the event.
Published by the student-operated Penn State Greater Allegheny Press, ABSENCE is a high-quality literary and visual arts review for the campus and surrounding community. The review’s goal is to provide all full- and part-time students, faculty, staff, and alumni with a shared venue for their creative endeavors, and to generate interest in the arts. ABSENCE also prepares students for careers in academia, publishing & journalism, and document design -- both paper and digital -- while offering opportunities for students to earn Penn State credit for editorial work. Student editors have gone on to careers in publishing and academia.