Back to Blog

NCWN Members Sweep Carolina Woman Writing Contest

Each year, the NC Writers’ Network donates a two-year membership as one of the prizes for the Carolina Woman Writing Contest. We’re always happy to list the contest in our Opportunities section and promote it on social media. But we are overjoyed when so many of our members take home prizes—and there has never been a year when so many of our members have won.

In fact, all of this year’s winners are NCWN members: a clean sweep.

Anne Kissel of Chapel Hill takes the Grand Prize with her short story, “Talisman.” She wins a historic romantic getaway in Richmond, VA.

Teresa McLamb Blackmon of Benson wins First Prize with her poem, “Letter Writers.” She receives a Razor Electric Scooter. (Teresa, we’d be interested in that scooter for use around the NCWN offices, if you’re looking to trade or sell…)

“Backyard Poem for Early March” by Joyce Compton Brown of Troutman is awarded Second Prize. Joyce wins a $250 ADORAtherapy gift certificate.

Emily Carter of Beaufort wins Third Prize with her essay, “Mop Day.” Emily takes home the most coveted of all the contest prizes: a two-year membership in the North Carolina Writers’ Network!

Mary Hennessy of Raleigh’s poem “Testosterone in/at the Movies” snags Fourth Prize: she wins a one-year Canva Pro membership.

Tonya Lanier of Lexington wins a Workman Publishing Prize Pack (Fifth Prize) with her essay “The Grenade.”

And finally, Ruth Moose of Albemarle receives an Honorable Mention for her poem “Bobby Sox.” She wins a Carolina Woman nightshirt—of priceless value.

To read all the winners, click here.

Carolina Woman, the largest and longest-running women’s magazine in the Carolinas, is a celebrated lifestyle publication that was launched in 1993. Its readership includes 100,000 upscale, professional women in the high-tech Research Triangle area, a region covering Raleigh, Durham, Cary and Chapel Hill, with a population of almost 2 million. Carolina Woman’s publisher is Debra Simon, a writer and editor whose work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Seventeen Magazine, Adweek, Reuters, The Miami Herald, The Hartford Courant and The Financial Times.

Here at the North Carolina Writers’ Network, we do the math so you don’t have to: 7 of 7 winners of this year’s Carolina Woman Writing Contest were NCWN members, or 100 percent. The Writingest State indeed. And who says writers can’t do math?

Congratulations to all!