KWG Announces Judges for Annual Writing Contest

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - April 22, 2015 - PRLog -- The Knoxville Writers' Guild has secured a group of talented and highly respected writers to serve as judges for its 2015 writing contest. The judges and their bios are listed below under their respective category.

The Leslie Garrett Award for Literary Fiction:

Jeanne McDonald has published fiction and nonfiction in magazines, journals and anthologies, including "American Fiction," "Better Homes and Gardens," "Poets & Writers" and "Migrants and Stowaways, Low Explosions." Her novel, "Water Dreams," was published by the University Press of Mississippi in September 2003. McDonald was inducted into the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame in 2007. She has co-authored two books of nonfiction with her husband, Fred Brown: "Growing Up Southern: How the South Shapes Its Writers" and "The Serpent Handlers: Three Families and Their Faith," which won the Harry Caudill Award for Journalistic Reporting. She is a recipient of the Tennessee Arts Commission/Alex Haley Fiction Fellowship and many other awards.

The KWG Award for Novel Excerpt:

Pamela Schoenewaldt is the USA Today bestselling author of "When We Were Strangers," "Swimming in the Moon" and the upcoming "Under the Same Blue Sky," all by HarperCollins. Her short stories have appeared in literary magazines in England, France, Italy and the United States. Her play, "Espresso con mia madre" (Espresso with my mother) was performed at Teatro Cilea in Naples. She taught writing for the University of Maryland, European Division and the University of Tennessee, and her interactive writing workshops inspire writers of all genre and stages.

The Libba Moore Gray Award for Poetry:

Marilyn Kallet is the author of 16 books, including "The Love that Moves Me," "Packing Light: New and Selected Poems," "Circe, After Hours" and "Last Love Poems of Paul Eluard." She directs the Creative Writing Program at the University of Tennessee, where she is also Professor of English. She also teaches poetry workshops for the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, in Auvillar, France. She has directed the Young Writers' Institute for 22 years. Kallet has been awarded the Tennessee Arts Commission Literary Fellowship in Poetry, and was inducted into the East Tennessee Literary Hall of Fame in Poetry in 2005.  She has performed her poetry on campuses and in theaters across the United States, and in Poland as a guest of the U.S. Embassy’s "America Presents" cultural arts program.

The KWG Award for Creative Nonfiction:

Jack Neely is a columnist and local historian. He is the author of several books, including "The Tennessee Theater: A Grand Entertainment Palace," Knoxville: This Obscure Prismatic City" and "Market Square: A History of the Most Democratic Place on Earth." He is the founder and executive director of the Knoxville History Project, a nonprofit that, among other things, serves as a publishing house for local history and the new "Knoxville Mercury."

The KWG Award for Genre Fiction:

Lowell Cunningham created the comic book series "The Men in Black." This series spawned the 1997 film "Men in Black," as well as its 2002 sequel, "Men in Black II," its 2012 sequel, "Men in Black 3," and an animated television program, "Men in Black: The Series."

The Young Writers Prize:

Lisa Soland is the author of two children's books: "The Christmas Tree Angel" and its sequel, "The Unmade Moose." She is a renowned playwright, with plays "Waiting," "Cabo San Lucas," "Truth Be Told," "The Name Game" and "The Man in the Gray Suit & Other Plays" all published internationally by Samuel French Inc. With more than 40 international publications in all, her work can also be found in “best of” anthologies published by French, Smith & Kraus, Applause Books and Dramatic Publishing. Her book "The Writer’s Motivation" has inspired countless writers to fill the blank page.

Submissions for the writing contest are being accepted in six different categories now through midnight, Tuesday, June 30.For complete submission guidelines, please visit www.knoxvillewritersguild.org/contest.