Awards

Hard on the heels of the wonderful awards given to the Columbia Chronicle announced recently by Jim Sulski, the Fiction Writing Department is pleased to announce that our anniversary issue, Hair Trigger 30, received a Gold Crown Award from the Columbia University Scholastic Press Association in New York on March 15, 2009. This is the twenty-third major award given to Hair Trigger in national competitions, and the magazine has never failed to place in any year that it has been eligible. This year's prize was also the fourth consecutive Gold Crown given to the magazine by CSPA. Congratulations on the Hair Trigger 30 award go to faculty advisor Chris Maul Rice, Hair Trigger supervisor and Director of Faculty Development Shawn Shiflett, Assistant to the Chair Deborah Roberts, Administrative Assistant Linda Naslund, Secretary Nicole Chakalis, Production Assistant Mica Racine, and, of course, the student editors and writers who worked so hard to attain the highest possible quality for the magazine. Congratulations and thanks also go to Mary Forde, Corey Plazak, Edward Thomas, and Ryan Madarik from Creative and Print Services for their characteristically innovative and conscientious work on design.

This year, we also entered our departmental publication, Fictionary, in the CSPA Specialty Magazine competition, and it came away with a Silver Medalist Award. Congratulations on Fictionary go to faculty advisor Sam Weller, Managing Editors Jana Dawson and Jessie Tierney, Assistant Editor Robyn Eastman, Associate Editor Linda Naslund, and the contributing writers.

Many Fiction Writing Department students won individual awards, including first-place prizes for Hair Trigger writers in all three of the major categories -- Traditional Fiction, Experimental Fiction, and creative nonfiction Essay. Fiction Writing students made a clean sweep of Traditional Fiction, with all three of the top prizes and three other honorable mentions.

These awards continue a long tradition of excellence for Hair Trigger and, we assume, will begin a similar tradition for Fictionary. Individual student writers from the Fiction Writing Department have now won well over one hundred awards from CSPA and other national competitions. Along with the Chronicle winners, these writers represent the diversity of voices and the excellence that flow from the Columbia College Chicago mission, and we are happy to share their accomplishments with the rest of the college community.

Our thanks also go to Dean of the School of Fine and Performing Arts Eliza Nichols and the rest of the Columbia College administration for their support of these magazines and Fiction Writing Department programs.

A full list of winners is as follows:


Gold Crown winner (overall magazine)

2009 Collegiate Circle Winners (individual awards):
- First-place Experimental Fiction: Stephanie Shaw, "Afterbirth"
- Third-place Experimental Fiction: J. E. Harrington, "Little Boy"
- First-place Traditional Fiction: Chelsea Laine Wells, "The Heart of God"
- Second-place Traditional Fiction: Jessica M.Young, "A Change Is As Good As a Rest"
- Third-place Traditional Fiction: Kristen Fiore, "The Language of Tires"
- Certificate of Merit Traditional Fiction: Tracy Blight, "People You Wouldn't Touch"
- Certificate of Merit Traditional Fiction: Faisal Mohyuddin: "At the Funeral of Munir Omar"
- Certificate of Merit Traditional Fiction: Kevin Peterson: "View from the Top"
- First-place Essays: J. S. Gordon, "When Thinking About Corners"
- Third-place Essays: April Newman, "Diagnosing Father"
- Certificate of Merit Essays: Jana Dawson, "How I Met Ted Dawson"
- Certificate of Merit Essays: Daniel Prazer, "No Experience Required"
- Third-place Cover Design, Spot Color: Mary Forde, Cecil McDonald, Jr. & Chris Maul Rice
- First-place Photographs, Portfolio of work: Kelli Connell, "Double Life"
- Certificate of Merit Photographs, Portfolio of work: Cecil McDonald, Jr., "Let's Go to Work, Steppers"


Silver Medal winner (overall magazine)

2009 Collegiate Circle Winners (individual awards):
- Second-place Nonfiction article: Jessica M. Young & Jessie Tierney, "Literati Hustle"
- Certificate of Merit Nonfiction article: Brooke Hennen, "Where Verbal Meets Visual"
- First-place Overall Design, Specialty Magazine: Guido Mendez & Jessica Tierney
- First-place Cover Design, Spot Color: Guido Mendez & Art Spiegelman
- Certificate of Merit, Typography, General use of typography throughout magazine: Guido Mendez
- First-place Informational Graphics, Black and White: Jana Dawson, Guido Mendez, & Jessie Tierney, "Crib Notes"
- Second-place Informational Graphics, Black and White: Colin Channer, "The Lists: Columbia's Writer in Residence Colin Channer"
- Third-place Informational Graphics, Black and White: Guido Mendez & Jessie Tierney, "Nicole Chakalis's 4 Essential Tools"
- Certificate of Merit Informational Graphics, Black and White: Jana Dawson, Guido Mendez, & Jessie Tierney, "Fictionary Contributors"
- Certificate of Merit: Page Design, Literary Portfolio: Danielle Desjardins, "On the Shelf" (six sidebars placed through magazine)
- Third-place Page Design, Special or general interest magazine multi-page presentation: Jessica M. Young, "Literati Hustle"