Sunday, June 29, 2008

Scholarship Awarded



The Roanoke Valley Branch of the National League of American Pen Women has awarded a $100 scholarship to Amy Tate of Boones Mill. The award, presented to a woman over thirty who has returned to college following an absence of several years, is to be used for incidental expenses related to attending school.

Tate, who’d majored in journalism major at Liberty University, left in 1993 when her major was no longer offered. After marrying and having two children, she enrolled last year in the Horizon Program at Hollins University where she studied poetry and fiction writing as well as 17th & 18th century literature. Eventually, she would like to write children’s literature—especially historical fiction for young people.

Applicants for the scholarship had to take at least one class in art, music, dance, or writing. They were required to submit a letter of interest, proof of acceptance at a college, and a work sample. Tate submitted two essays.

Of Tate’s writing sample, the Roanoke Valley Pen Women president and contest co-chair, Dr. Peggy Shifflett said, “I like her writing style and I believe she shows promise as a future writer. Shifflett noted that the other work samples “pale in comparison to Amy Tate’s original writing.”

Becky Mushko, Roanoke Valley Pen Women vice-president and the other contest co-chair, recused herself from voting at the June 4 Pen Women’s meeting because she and Tate know each other. The other members in attendance, after examining the applications, unanimously voted for Tate as the first recipient of what will become an annual award.

2 comments:

Amy said...

I just bought my textbooks. I found them on Amazon and they were significantly less expensive than the books in the Hollins bookstore. Thanks to all of you, I only paid $25 for them! You'll never know how grateful I am to you for the scholarship!

Anonymous said...

I think this is great this scholarship was awarded to her i think its really nice to see women going back to college and scholarship programs going ahead to help them.

Cheers,
Beatrice Morgan