April 01, 2015

Roxana Rivera poetry contest winners announced

by Andrea Hahn

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Department of English and the master of fine arts in creative writing program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale announced winners of the 2015 Roxana Rivera Memorial Poetry Contest this week. 

The undergraduate winners are:

Rebekah Durig (Germantown Hills) for “To Maria Komissarova (#5)”

Honorable Mention: Ashley Mallick (Dixon) for “The Weight of Flowers”

Rebekah Durig for “Open and Closed” 

The graduate winners are:

Emily Rose Cole (Emmaus, Pa.) for “Self-Portrait as Rapunzel”

Honorable Mention:

Jessica Lynn Suchon (Ann Arbor, Mich.) for “one month after miscarriage”

Emily Rose Cole for “10 years later, the Cowardly Lion Surveys His Territory” 

Lauren K. Alleyne, author of the poetry collection “Difficult Fruit,” was the judge for this year’s contest. Alleyne delivered a reading of her poetry during the awards ceremony. 

The contest honors Roxana Rivera, a creative writing graduate student from California who died in 2003. The contest is open to all students, regardless of major, enrolled at SIU. Winners receive cash awards.