A visibly emotional Kathryn Manion accepted the Washington College Sophie Kerr Prize at a ceremony Tuesday evening in New York City. Manion thanked God, her family, her professors, in particular Rich Gillin and Bob Mooney, and her fellow finalists.
An English major with minors in Creative Writing and Anthropology, Manion is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, was involved with many campus publications, worked as a consultant at the Writing Center and served as head of the Writers’ Union for the past two years. According to a Washington College press release, her portfolio, ” …included short stories and an excerpt from her senior thesis on letter-writing in novels.” The release also quotes the judging committee as saying, ““Her fiction shows flashes of brilliance through her ability to create voice keenly appropriate to the story in progress. Both on the page and as a member of this community, Katie has a quiet confidence in her ability to lead, write and edit.”
The five finalists were introduced by best-selling author Colum McCann, whose novel, Let the Great World Spin, won the 2009 National Book Award, as well as other literary prizes. McCann described the new generation of writers as, “.. future legislators of light, dark, beauty and despair…..the voice of past, present and unknowable future.”
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