About 360 student showed up to the Young Writer's Conference.

Young writers from Granite Hills are recognized
Ebony Bailey | 3/27/08 | News

Four Granite Hills’ students won awards at the 28th annual Young Writers Conference at Fresno State on Wednesday, March 26. Xjenai Peralta won the University President’s Award, Amy Minor won the English Department Chair Award, and Brandy Bratcher won the Valley Writer’s Award. Angel Reyes also received an honorable mention at the conference.

Peralta won an award for her story “Never A Musician.” She won $100 along with a certificate for her award, which she said she is probably going to save for scholarship money.

“I wasn’t expecting it all,” she said.

She said she did not expect to win this award because she thought that other people deserved the award just as much as she did.

Minor was also happy to get her award, even though her nerves started to get to her.

“I was really happy but I was also really nervous going up there because everybody watches you,” Minor said.

Minor won an award for her story “A City on Fire.” She received $75 for her award. She said that she is going to use that money to take her family out to Don Vinos.

“We never really go out to eat as a family so I thought that I would take them,” she said.

Bratcher won an award along with $50 for her story “Assuming the Holidays are a Time Well Spent.” Her piece was just a diary entry that she entered in the contest.

“I was amazed that they actually put it in a book,” she said. “To see my words in print are amazing.”

About 15 students from both the Granite Hills Creative Writing class and the Advanced Placement English Language class attended the conference.

The day started out with the award’s ceremony, followed by a presentation from author and UCLA professor Mona Simpson. Lunch occurred after that, and then students got to go visit workshops in fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction.

“I enjoyed lecturing [the students]; it’s always good.” MFA student Jefferson Beaker said, who lectured one of the creative nonfiction workshops. “When I like to teach writing, to me, it’s not about answers it’s about questions.”

Students returned to the bus at 2:00 p.m.