ACU students garner awards at literary contests

Four English students from Abilene Christian University received awards and great accolades for their literary works entered in creative writing contests this spring.

Tifanee Jackson, junior English major from Cherokee, Texas, earned second place for her poems in The College Language Association creative writing contest. She was nominated for the contest by Dr. Rhonda Collier, assistant professor of English at ACU. Jackson began writing poetry in associate English professor Al Haley's creative writing class in fall 2008.

"Tifanee's poems are amazing—they're both lyrical and compellingly gritty,” said Haley. "From the beginning she had a strong poetic voice and something unique to say."

Students Brent Dill, junior English major from Brownfield, Texas; Jessica George, senior English major from Abilene; and Danielle Besch, senior English major from Wharton, Texas, each earned awards in The Conference on Christianity and Literature's 2009 student creative writing contest.

Dill was awarded first place in fiction for his short story, "Community Theatre." George received third place in fiction for her short story "Popsicles and Cigarettes." Besch was awarded second place in poetry for her poems entitled: "Matthew 27:46," "First Night," and "Summer Sweet Corn."

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