By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
A boyhood milk essay won Michael Collins a fishing pole and inspired him to sponsor the Collins Award, which debuted at the 2004 Dogwood Fine Arts Festival and continued Thursday night with announcement of the 2005 winners at Dowagiac Youth Night at Union High School.
The author personally presented the first writing prizes for fiction and poetry last May 11 to six DUHS students, Mike Hoff, first in poetry, with Michelle Middaugh second and Jason Smith third.
Collins declared a tie in fiction between Adam Carlson and Ken Scott, with Emily Westendorp third.
This year he expanded the Collins Award to include photography.
Dubbed "the thinking man's John Grisham" for his blend of elegant writing and strong storytelling, Collins began his relationship with Dowagiac 10 years ago in April 1995, speaking to students of his friends, Dogwood President Rich and Teri Frantz, who teach at DUHS.
Collins lectured here in October 2001 to promote "The Keepers of Truth," which mentions Cass County by name and was shortlisted in 2000 for Great Britain's highest literary award, the Booker Prize.
Ironically, that Booker went to 2004 Dogwood Visiting Author Margaret Atwood. The Canadian won for "The Blind Assassin."
Collins returned in November 2002 to talk about "The Resurrectionists," another Michigan murder mystery. "Lost Souls" continued his small-town Midwest trilogy, which walks a tightrope between indicting American culture while compassionately examining the plight of people struggling to overcome burdened pasts.
It may not have seemed a big deal at the time, "but years later, when I was at Notre Dame" on a running scholarship in the mid-1980s, "I was a pretty bad student with a C average all the time until I got myself sorted out. I took a fiction writing course because I said to myself, 'What am I good at? What have I won in my life?' Of course, I was decent at sports, but I remembered one time I won a fishing rod for an essay.
Poetry Prize
individual struggling for meaning in life. Their muse is the stuff of
teenager preoccupation - the transition or crossroad to adulthood. In these
poems, one sees into the hearts of our sons and daughters. What more can one ask of the artist than such soul-searching truth?"
First Prize "Give Me a Reason" - Kristin Schinske, $200.
Second Prize "The Road I Travel" - Aislinn Frantz, $100.
Third Prize "Cage" - Leah Dohm, $50.
Short Story Prize
thought about writing, might just take a chance and submit something. It's
how I started, entering a prize. Less important than winning is trying,
taking the gamble. That said, this year's entries are not mere attempts at
storytelling. They are honestly the best collection of stories I've read by
young adults, period. The quality of the work submitted is a testament to
the teaching and spirit of learning at Dowagiac. I can honestly say that
the prize winners have the potential to become great writers.
fantastical imaginative tale of a so-called barbarian fighting for his life
in a blood lust society of sport, all the stories have a complexity that
goes beyond mere storytelling.
Dual First Prize - "The Winds of Autumn" by Ken Scott, who also won in 2004, $250.
Dual First Prize - "No One Ever Comes" by Debra Curtis, $250.
Third Prize - "By the Weight of the Sword" by Casey True, $100.
Photography Prize
pictorial snapshot of place and time. It was so hard to choose a
so-called winner, since the pieces work as a whole, or so I envisioned
them working as such.
dichotomy of Midwest small-town America, the fusion of red brick
industrial buildings contrasted with monuments, usually to war, but in
this case, a monument to dreams.
industrial building backdrop subtly speaks of a relationship between
sport and unrealized dreams. Were the sneakers thrown their in
frustration or joy?
First Prize - Danny Kollar for '76 Soul, Air-lifted Shoes, $250.
Second Prize- Hillary Bisnett for Dance of Creation, $150.
Third Prize - Jeff Brosnan for Backalley, $100.
Ron Walsworth, retired English teacher and Central principal, presented the writing awards.
DUHS art teacher Dean Hill presented the photography awards.