Two Writing Program professors recognized
Two COM Writing Program professors, Cynthia Anderson and Kathryn Burak, have garnered national recognition for their fiction writing.
Cynthia Anderson won the prize for Best Fiction of 2012 by the distinguished journal Indiana Review for her story, “Mavak Tov.”
“This story haunted me," said contest judge Dana Johnson. "The main character’s longing and desire for comfort, for a place to be, is so powerful and recognizable, as is the conflict and question this story poses, not just for the main character but for all of us: At what price do we achieve comfort? At what point do we reject what is easy and familiar for something far more necessary, which is true agency and power?” Anderson’s story, Johnson said, explores this question “through a beautifully rendered relationship between a mother and her daughter and between the wives of one polygamist man, in gorgeous, unflinching detail.” The winning story will appear in Indiana Review 35.1, due out in late Spring 2013.
Kathryn Burak’s new novel “Emily’s Dress and Other Missing Things” is a finalist for the 2013 Edgar Allan Poe Award in the category of Best Young Adult novel. The nominees for Edgar Awards, which are sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America, were announced on Jan. 16, in celebration of the 204th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allen Poe. The awards will be presented on May 2, 2013.