Thank you for a Successful

Spring Writers Conference

Keynote speaker was John Clayton, reporter and columnist for the “Union Leader,”

talking on “A Life Sentence.” Clayton also presented an afternoon non-fiction

workshop, “Column as you see ‘em.”

Other afternoon workshops were “Flash Fiction,” with award-winning short-short story

writer Carla Gericke; “Poetry: Be Your Own Editor—The Art of Revision,” with poet,

editor and composer John-Michael Albert; and “Everything you Wanted to Know

About Copyright Law But Were Afraid to Ask” with Matt Saunders, an attorney

specializing in intellectual property law.

The conference opened with the announcement of winners in the 2010 SWA writing

contest. Congratulations to all our winners!

Winning writers announced

Winners in the 2010 Writing Contest of the Seacoast Writers Association were announced

at the recent SWA Spring Writers Conference at the McConnell Center, Dover. First,

second, and third place winners received checks for $100, $75, and $50, and first place

winners read their winning entries.

In Poetry, the winners were, first place, Amy Dengler, Gloucester, Mass.; second, Nancy

Wheaton, Portsmouth; and third, Frederick Chormann, Concord. Honorable Mentions

were Meg Petersen, Plymouth; Emma Duffy-Comparone, Portsmouth; and Roger Finch,

Cape Neddick, Maine. The poetry judge was Kimberly Cloutier Green of Kittery Point,

Maine, a workshop and retreat presenter and author of a poetry chapbook,

“What Becomes of Words.”

In Fiction, the winners were, first place, Michael Wade, Stratham; second place, Patricia

Salome, Portsmouth; and third place, John Bubar, Durham. The Honorable Mention

winner was Noreen Hyde, Durham. The fiction judge was Cynthia Neale, Hampstead,

author of two young adult novels, “The Irish Dresser” and “Hope in New York City,”

and a frequent presenter at Irish cultural events.

In the Personal Essay, the winners were, first place, Clare Moore, York, Maine;

second place, Sue Quinlan, Newmarket; and third place, Linda Argenti, Nashua.

Honorable Mentions were Mary Ann Hendry, Hampton; Heather Seeley, Brentwood;

and Taylor Filiaut, Hampton.  The non-fiction judge was Dean Merchant, Stratham, a

free-lance author who writes on local history and archeology for area publications.

The winning entries will be published in “Currents VII,” the Seacoast Writers anthology

of contest winners. Guidelines and entry forms for the 2011 contest will be available at

the fall, 2010, SWA writers conference and on this website at that time.