Tag: Josh Stroup

Fall Writing Contest Winners

December 18, 2024 | Campus News ECC Rolla

The East Central College English and Humanities Department has announced the winners of this fall’s Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction Writing Contest.

“Stories, whether they are true or not, can be a kind of nourishment when life looks like a lonely trail,” said Josh Stroup, Assistant Professor and English Department Chair. “The stories that our students shared with us kept our judges full, and we hope to share this bounty with you all in the Spring 2025 edition of the Literary and Art Review.”

The department encourages readers to recognize these students for their dedication to crafting thoughtful and compelling work. While many stories were submitted—and all had something unique to offer—the winners are:

Fiction Winners

First Place — Lauren Hoey’s “Night Shift” — $100
Second Place — Hope Bratch’s “The Classic Chevrolet” — $50
Third Place — Mary Misener’s “The Kingdom of Ozymandias” — $25

Creative Non-Fiction Winners

First Place — Nicole Pope’s “Expanding Limitations” — $100
Second Place — Madeline Johnsen’s “Big Bad Love: Love Drives Purpose” — $50
Third Place — Kaylee Wonder’s “The Twins” — $25

The department extends its gratitude to the contest judges: John Hardecke, Assistant Professor; Linda Barro, Associate Professor; Dr. Aurelia VonTress, Instructor; and Dr. Kami Hancock, instructor.

Additional opportunities to showcase student creativity are on the horizon. The department will announce details for the upcoming Poetry and Research Writing Contests this spring.

ECC Alumna Recognized for Creative Writing Pieces

June 15, 2023 | Campus News

Eliana Plumb began writing consistently as a student when she began at East Central College less than three years ago.

That’s led the ECC alumna to be recognized recently for two short stories she submitted for review as a student at College of the Ozarks this past spring.

Plumb, of Hermann, submitted her short story, “Mortem Obire,” to the international English honor society Sigma Tau Delta, and it was presented at the organization’s annual conference.

She attended the conference held in Denver, Colo. in April where she read her piece to a small audience.

Plumb earned an associate degree from ECC in 2022 and plans to graduate from the College of the Ozarks in the Fall 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in English. Her minor is in writing and rhetoric.

She said “Mortem Obire” is a story she wrote in Josh Stroup’s, English instructor and department chair, creative fiction class at ECC.

“I took inspiration from my own father’s embalming profession to ponder the question of how a person with a different perspective on death might face grief,” Plumb said.

She also submitted “Mortem Obire” to the Sigma Tau Delta Review for publishing. She will learn later this summer if the piece will be included in the journal.

Second Writing

Another short story, “Song of the Wind,” won second place in the College of the Ozarks’ short story competition.

“’Song of the Wind’ is a project that I plan on extending to become a novel,” Plumb commented. “I was inspired by my British literature class and my classical and Christian epics class.

“I wanted to merge epic conventions with different poetry conventions across the world during different time periods,” she added. “My epics professor asked at the beginning of class why we thought no one was really writing epics anymore, and I decided I wanted to do just that.”

Plumb noted that being acknowledged for her writing has helped build confidence.

“Receiving recognition for my creative work has really settled in my mind that I can be successful doing what I’m inspired to do,” she said.

Inspiration at ECC

Plumb, who was homeschooled, said she didn’t recognize her talent for writing until taking English courses at ECC.

“I had no metric for my abilities until I came to ECC. With the classes provided, I was able to see my talent in the English field,” she said. “I was inspired to attempt things I never would have on my own, and I’ve taken that mentality with me to College of the Ozarks.”

Plumb was inspired and encouraged by Stroup and Raphael Maurice, former adjunct instructor at ECC.

“Both of them cemented in my mind that studying English is the only thing I want to do,” she added. “I cannot thank them enough for encouraging me to expand my knowledge and my abilities.”

Outside of her former instructors, Plumb has been inspired by many authors.

“I have innumerable influences, but I can name Edgar Allan Poe, Sylvia Plath, Donna Tartt, and J.R.R. Tolkien as authors who formed what I enjoy reading and writing.”

Career Goal

Although she has only been writing creatively for a short time, Plumb plans for a career in the field.

“I only began writing consistently a few years ago, but since then I have written several short stories, poems, and a full-length novel that I would like to publish,” she said. “I would love to continue my education, but I really have a passion for writing. If I could build a career off writing and editing creative works, I couldn’t ask for much more.”

ECC offers creative writing and English emphases through its Arts and Humanities Pathway, which introduces students to the history of ideas that have defined cultures through a study of the visual arts, literature, theatre, music and media.

To find out more about ECC and the Arts and Humanities pathway, visit www.eastcentral.edu.

Winners Announced for ECC Writing Contest

December 14, 2022 | Campus News Inspiring Excellence

After much debate East Central College judges decided the winners of the English Department’s annual Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction Writing Contest for ECC Students.

That’s according to Josh Stroup, English instructor/English and humanities chair, adding that the awards for the winning students are: First place, $100; second place, $50; and third place, $25.

Listed below are the 2022 winners!

Fiction Winners:

First Place – Lindsey Nichols’ “After”
Second Place – Lucas Howland’s “Hunters”
Third Place – Jaden Bursey’s “Treebark & the Forest of Fireflies”
Honorable Mention –Ruthie Cordia’s “Key West”

Creative Non-Fiction Winners:

First Place – Kati Barnes’ “Comparison Paper”
Second Place – Lilly Savant’s ” Facebook’s Unethical Privacy Practices”
Third Place – Joanna Hoskin’s “Lion’s Lake: Sharing the View with Others”

“If you see these students, please give them a round of applause. They deserve it,” Stroup said.

He noted that the winning entries will be in the next Lit and Art Review.

“On behalf of the English Department, I would like to thank all those who submitted to this contest, helped judge — Linda Barro, Katie Holtmeyer, Dr. Kami Hancock, and Dr. Aurelia VonTress — or helped spread the word,” Stroup said.

Keep an eye out for the Poetry and Research Writing Contest slated for the spring.

English Department’s Poetry and Research Contest Winners

May 13, 2022 | Campus News ECC Rolla Media

The East Central College English Department has announced the winners of the annual Poetry and Research Writing Contest.

In the poetry category, Christian Emory received first-place honors for, “Well-done.”

In the research essay category, Jillian Stigge’s, “Dangerous New Censorships in Education,” was the first-place winner.

First-place recipients received $100 in prize money. Second-place winners were given $50, and third-place winners received $25.

Josh Stroup, instructor and English department chair, thanked Katie Holtmeyer for assisting in judging the contest, as well as everyone who submitted to this contest, and those who helped spread the word about the contest.

“If you know any of these students, please reach out and give them a rowdy congrats! They deserve it,” Stroup said. “The Literary and Art Review will be out soon, so you too can read these award-winning works.”

In addition, the English department will host a Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction contest in the fall.

Listed below are the winners in both categories, followed by the title of the work.

Poetry Winners

First place — Christian Emory, “Well-done.”

Second place — Jacy DeLoach, “infinitesimal.”

Third place — Emrhys Bradley’s, “What is a woman? (An American Sonnet).”

Honorable Mention — Paxton Ludwig, “Home Depot Misgivings.”

Research Essay Winners

First place — Jillian Stigge, “Dangerous New Censorships in Education.”

Second place — Emma Thomas, “One Bullet.”

Third place — Sarah Harris, “Caffeine: Why It Should Have More Restrictions.”

English Department to Hold STEM-Themed Poetry Contest

October 12, 2021 | Campus News

The East Central College English Department will hold its first-ever STEM-themed poetry contest.

The contest calls for poems with topics relating to Science, Technology, Engineering and/or Math, commonly referred to as STEM.

STEM isn’t the first thing that people think when writing or reading poetry, according to Josh Stroup, instructor and English department chair.

“The fields of math, science, technology and engineering have much more to do with poetry than one may think,” he said.

“Both poetry and STEM are about making the invisible visible, and we hope that writing about science and math will make that even clearer to our students.”

Submit poems as an email attachment to Stroup at joshua.stroup@eastcentral.edu. The deadline to submit is Wednesday, Oct. 27.

The top three winners of the poetry contest will win cash prizes of $25, $50 or $100. Winners will be announced via email on Nov. 16.

Listed below are the poetry contest submission guidelines:

Must be a current ECC student.
Entries must be typed in MS Word, Open Office or Libre Office.
Maximum of five poems per student.
Entrant’s name, phone number and email address must appear on a cover page with a list of poem titles enclosed.
Each poem must be single spaced, aligned to the left and in 12-point Times New Roman font.
Enter poems with topics relating to science, technology, engineering and/or math.
Please use imagery and avoid clichés.

English Department Essay, Poetry Contest Winners

May 13, 2021 | Campus News

The East Central College English Department sought student entries for the annual Poetry and Research Writing Contest.

In the poetry category, Grace Sellers received first-place honors for, “Rice Crispy Knees.”

In the research essay category, first place was awarded to Clara Curtmann for, “Why Beijing Should Not Host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.”

Both first-place recipients received $100 in prize money. Second-place winners were given $50, and third-place winners received $25.

Josh Stroup, instructor and English department chair, thanked the esteemed judges Patsy Watts, Linda Barro and Bob Mahon, as well as everyone who submitted to this contest, and those who helped spread the word about the contest.

“If you know any of these students, please reach out and give them a rowdy congrats! They deserve it,” Stroup said. “We hope to have a version of the Art & Lit Review out soon, so you can read these award-winning works.”

The English department will host a Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction contest in the fall.

Listed below are the winners in both categories, followed by the title of the work.

Poetry Winners

First place — Grace Sellers, “Rice Crispy Knees.”

Second place — Ben Brennell, “Mein Kampf, Die Krieg” (A Found Poem).

Third place — Udanthi Walker-Wallace, “Math Destruction.”

Honorable Mentions — Michaela Plumb, “August’s End” and “Found Hope” (A Found Poem).

Research Essay Winners

First place — Clara Curtmann, “Why Beijing Should Not Host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.”

Second place — Emily Green, “Standardized Testing is Destroying the Soul of Creativity in Today’s Students.”

Third place — Sarah Harris, “Caffeine: Why It Should Have More Restrictions.”

Student Has Poetry Published

July 23, 2015 | Campus News

A poem written by Heather Luehr, a psychology major at East Central College, has been published in the latest edition of Kaleidoscope magazine. Kaleidoscope is an award-winning online publication that creatively focuses on the experiences of disability through literature and the arts.

Her poem, Leaving Kisses Behind Her, appears in issue 71 along with essays, fiction works, and other poetry by several talented and prize-winning authors whose work has been published in a wide range of literary journals, anthologies, chapbooks, and books. A link to issue 71 can be found on the Kaleidoscope web page with Luehr’s poem on page 10.

Luehr, a freshman from Union, found that writing poetry was a great way to express herself and her feelings. This poem was inspired by her late mother. Luehr completed a creative writing course with Josh Stroup, ECC English instructor.

Kaleidoscope has been published since 1979. Fiction, painting, photography, pencil sketches, sculpture, poetry, nonfiction, book reviews, and theater are all featured in various issues.