2020-21 League for Innovation Student Literary Contest and Student Art Competition Winners
May 13, 2021
Each year, the League for Innovation—an international consortium of colleges across the United States and Canada—hosts both a student literary contest and a student art competition. Seattle Colleges is proud to be one of the founding members of the League. We host local districtwide competitions from which our students advance to the final levels.
Student Literary Contest
Local winners receive a certificate suitable for framing and a cash prize ($100 for first place, $50 for honorable mention). The first-place winners at the local level are forwarded on to the national contest, hosted this year by Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio. (Seattle is the national host two years from now.) Awards at the national level are $500, $250, and $100, plus publication in an extraordinary anthology.
In the past 12 years, 11 first-place winners at the national level have come from Seattle Colleges, and in two of the last year eight years, we have had two national winners, which is significant considering the competition.
Congratulations to this year’s Student Literary Contest district winners.
Fiction
- First place – “Coconut Chat” by Sheldon Etibek, Seattle Central College
- Honorable Mention – “King of the Fruit Festival” by Allegra Keys, South Seattle College
- Honorable Mention – “The Truths That Aren’t Forgiven” by Grace Kenny, Seattle Central College
One-Act Play
- First place – “Sun” by Natalie Shih, Seattle Central College
- Honorable Mention – “Infra Agua” by Natalie McCoy, North Seattle College
Personal Essay
- First place – “I’m Growing It Out” by Emil Krystad, North Seattle College
- Honorable Mention – “Ripping the Band Aid” by Nicole Sawyer, Seattle Central College
- Honorable Mention – “Regret” by Chloe Lashua, Seattle Central College
- Honorable Mention – “Unstable: Reflections of a Bipolar Girl” by Claire Bedsworth, North Seattle College
- Honorable Mention – “Up in Smoke” by Isiah Tolson, Seattle Central College
Poetry
- First place – “Love in the Dark” by Allegra Keys, South Seattle College
- Honorable Mention – “Fear” by Parker Redeker, South Seattle College
- Honorable Mention – “A Tic” by Reid Lauzon, Seattle Central College
- Honorable Mention – “Dear Mother” by Zoe Bricker, North Seattle College
The faculty judges – Mike Hickey, South Seattle College; Greg November, North Seattle College; and Jeb Wyman, Seattle Central College – want to thank everyone who submitted entries. If you were not selected, please know that you were very seriously considered. If you are a student in the upcoming Fall or Winter Quarter, please take part again next time.
Student Art Competition
Each year, jurors from North Seattle, Seattle Central, and South Seattle Colleges convene and select five students to represent the Seattle Colleges District. The winners of the local contest receive a cash prize (Best of Show $150, Second Place $100, Third Place $80, Juror's Choice Awards $70, Honorable Mentions $50) and move on to compete at the international level, hosted this year by Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Winners at the international level receive cash prizes of $800, $350, $200, and $100, respectively, a certificate of merit, and publication in the League's Student Art Competition journal.
Congratulations to this year’s Student Art Competition winners.
- Best in Show – “Life in Quarantine” video by Binghui Zhang, South Seattle College
- Second Place – “I Love (Me)” sculpture by Nora Suárez, North Seattle College
- Third Place – “Whispers from the Past” digital media by Nathanial Almanza, South Seattle College
- Juror’s Choice – “Dissociation” acrylic painting by Chris Jameson, North Seattle College
- Juror’s Choice – “The Key to Success is Failure” digital illustration by Giang Le, Seattle Central College
- Honorable Mention – “My Happy Place” digital photography by April Hong, Seattle Central College
- Honorable Mention – “Asian Marketplace” oil painting by Jerrald Morales, Seattle Central College
- Honorable Mention – “Bored” digital illustration by Adrianna Chagdes, South Seattle College
- Honorable Mention – “Lorna’s Belongings” oil painting by Maria Ordal, North Seattle College
- Honorable Mention – “Fighting for Freedom” charcoal on paper by Quan Wang, North Seattle College
- Honorable Mention – “Exploring Peace in with Chaos” collage by Maxine Chaney, North Seattle College
- Honorable Mention – “Cyclical” jewelry by Cas Alexander, North Seattle College
The faculty coordinators and jurors – Philippe Hyojung Kim, Seattle Central College; Emily Gherard, North Seattle College; and Thomas Everett Green, South Seattle College – want to thank everyone who submitted works.