Stephanie Cassell- A resident of Norton, Stephanie  is a busy mom who took Rita Quillen’s 2006 Creative Writing class and has since published several poems and given public readings at UVA-Wise.  She is a repeat winner in this contest.

Shane Flanary- A winner in both the literary and artistic categories, Shane is an illustrator, writer, musician and graphic designer.

Sharon Hall- Sharon will be graduating from MECC with a degree in General Studies and a certificate in Graphic Design.  She plans on completing a bachelor’s degree in art at UVA-Wise

Cari Jessee- After graduating from Powell Valley High School in 2006, Cari enrolled as a Music Education major at Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, TN. She attended MECC as a dual-enrollment student while in high school.

Travis Lane- Travis is a Big Stone Gap native planning on pursuing a career in photography.

Loretta Lester– A Liberal Arts major at MECC, Loretta dreams of a degree in Studio Art after graduation here.

Sharyn Martin– A retired journalist, Sharyn is also an alumnus of the MECC Creative Writing class.  She has published work in many magazines and is a repeat winner in this competition as well as the Lonesome Pine Short Story Contest.  She lives in Kingsport.

Erik McBride- is a Big Stone Gap resident and student at MECC.

Meghan Moore- Meghan is an 18-year-old General Studies major from Pound, VA.

Bonnie Morgan- A busy mother of three girls, Bonnie is also a housewife, member of the Big Stone Gap Little League Board, and part – time student at MECC in the General Studies program.

Angie Orndorff- Currently a junior at James Madison University in Harrisonburg majoring in Studio art with a concentration in painting and drawing, Angie is an alumnus of the MECC Summer Governor School program.

Johnny Repass- A Graphic Design major here at MECC, Johnny lives in Duffield.

Jennifer Snead-Mother of two children, Lilly and Noah, Jennifer will graduate this spring from MECC with a degree in General Studies.  She plans on transferring to ODU to major in Human Services.

Darnelle Arnoult
One of the south’s “rising stars” in the literary world, Darnelle is celebrated as both a poet and novelist.  Her poetry collection What Travels With Us won the Weatherford Award in 2005, and her novel Sufficient Grace also received the Weatherford Award nomination, as well as a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly, and a nomination for the Southeastern Independent Book Sellers Association novel of the year.

Tamara Baxter
A longtime faculty member at Northeast State Community College in Blountville, TN, Tamara published a celebrated collection of short stories entitled Rock Big and Sing Loud, after winning the New Writer’s Series Prize in 2006 presented by the Jesse Stuart Foundation.  She has given numerous writing workshops in the region and is a frequent winner in short story competitions throughout the south.

David Grace
David is an award-winning news photographer for the Kingsport Times News.

Travis Graves
Currently an Assistant Professor of Art at ETSU, Travis
Received his BFA from Iowa State University and his MFA from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Marianne Worthington
A native of Knoxville, TN, Marianne is Associate Professor of Communication Arts at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, KY.  She is a widely published reviewer, essayist and poet, with her collection of poetry, Larger Bodies Than Mine, published in 2006.