James Najarian has won the ALSCW Stephen J. Meringoff Writing Award for Poetry, for his poems “Kleptomania”, “From the Armenian Quarter”, and “The Frat Boys”. The Poetry Award was judged by Greg Delanty and David Curzon. The award carries with it a cash prize of $2000, and the winning poems will be published in either Literary Imagination or in Literary Matters.
James Najarian is Associate Professor of English at Boston College, where he teaches Victorian poetry and prose, directs the PhD program in English, and edits the scholarly journal Religion and the Arts. He grew up on a goat farm in Berks County, Pennsylvania. His monograph,Victorian Keats, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2002. He has published verse in West Branch, The Mennonite, Tar Poetry Review, and other journals. His volume of verse, An Introduction to the Devout Life, has made finalist at several publication contests, including at Anhinga Press, The Ashland Poetry Press, and The National Poetry Series.
Marlene Veloso has won the ALSCW Stephen J. Meringoff Writing Award for Fiction, for her story “The Return of J Walker”. The Fiction Award was judged by Lee Oser. The award carries with it a cash prize of $2000, and the winning story will be published in either Literary Imagination or in Literary Matters.
Marlene Veloso is the Executive Director of Kids Research Center, a non-profit focused on children’s literacy. She has taught poetry and writing throughout New York City and graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in English and Theater. This is her first prize for fiction.
Michelle Chikaonda has won the ALSCW Stephen J. Meringoff Writing Award for Non-Fiction, for her essay “Mine”. The Non-Fiction Award was judged by Diana Senechal and Ernest Suarez. The award carries with it a cash prize of $2000, and the winning essay will be published in either Literary Imagination or in Literary Matters.
Michelle Chikaonda is a narrative nonfiction writer originating from Blantyre, Malawi. Currently living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she works at the undergraduate admissions office of her alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, while completing a collection of nonfiction essays about growing into adolescence and adulthood across the multiple cultures in which she was raised. Michelle was the first place winner in the nonfiction category at the 2014 Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards of the University of Arizona at Tucson, for her essay titled “AIDS: A Family Topology,” and in the spring of 2015 her essay “Until” will be published in the 2015 issue of the Oracle Fine Arts Review of the University of Southern Alabama. She is currently learning her fifth language, German, and when she is not working or writing, spends her time traveling, reading, and visiting with friends.