Pearl S. Buck Writing Contest

The Pearl S. Buck Advisory Committee and the Office of the President are pleased to announce the winners of the 4th annual statewide Pearl S. Buck Writing Competition.

Maya McKendall who will be attending Morgantown High School in Morgantown WV is the winner of the high school category. Ms. McKendall’s short story, “Morning Sun,” focuses on the relationship between a young girl with autism and her parents in China. As the high school winner, she was awarded a cash prize and a scholarship to the WVU Department of English’s West Virginia Writers’ Workshop.

Marshall University student Julia Wu, an English major from Huntington, WV, studying creative writing, takes home top honors in the undergraduate category. Ms. Wu’s winning entry was “We Were All Strangers” and shares stories and observations within the confines of President Trump’s inaugural speech.

The winner of the graduate category, Kayla Steinberger from Belle Center, OH, is a student at West Virginia University pursuing a Ph.D. in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis. Ms. Steinberger’s poem, entitled “Losing Comfort becoming Pearl” outlines the journey Ms. Buck took from her birth home and place to who she became as a woman of China and the world.

The Pearl S. Buck Writing Competition is open to West Virginia students in graduate, undergraduate, and high school categories, with top prizes awarded to entries in any literary genre that best reflect the life and values of author Pearl S. Buck.

Dr. Melanie Page, associate vice president for creative and scholarly activity and chair of the competition’s awards committee, said, “I continue to be impressed by our young writers each year and genuinely enjoy reading the diversity of entries we receive”.

The Pearl S. Buck Advisory Committee and the Office of the President are pleased to announce the winners of the 3rd annual statewide Pearl S. Buck Writing Competition. 

Lilah Coe from Herbert Hoover High School in Clendenin is the winner of the high school category. Ms. Coe’s poem, “West Virginia Is,” focuses on the various meanings WV has. 

Esha Sachdeva from University High School in Morgantown won 2nd place for her poem “Our Garden” about valuing people of diverse backgrounds. As the high school winners, they have been offered a scholarship to the WVU Department of English’s West Virginia Writers’ Workshop. 

West Virginia University student Regan Sands, an English major with a minor in Gender and Women’s Studies, takes home top honors in the undergraduate category. Ms. Sands’ winning entry was untitled and tells a story about the disconnect a person who leaves WV may feel on returning. 

The winner of the graduate category, Robin Harbrecht, is a student at Marshall University pursuing a M.A. in English. Ms. Harbrecht’s piece, entitled “Endangered Species” compares and contrasts the lives of two mothers – one from the US and one from Papua New Guinea. 

The Pearl S. Buck Writing Competition is open to West Virginia students in graduate, undergraduate, and high school categories, with top prizes awarded to entries in any literary genre that best reflect the life and values of author Pearl S. Buck. 

Dr. Melanie Page, associate vice president for creative and scholarly activity and chair of the competition’s awards committee, said, “All of the winning entries were inspiring. I found myself intrigued by the characters and narratives and very proud of our young West Virginia writers”.

The Pearl S. Buck Advisory Committee is pleased to announce the second annual Pearl S. Buck writing competition winners. Students submitted an original piece in any literary genre that best reflected the life and values of Pearl S. Buck. The contest was open to students attending a West Virginia high school or college/university (undergraduate and graduate students). The WVU President’s office sponsored cash prizes for all categories and the WVU Department of English awarded a scholarship to the winning high school student for the summer WV Writer’s Workshop. 

The winning entry for high school students was Ciara McGee, from Bluefield High School, in Bluefield, WV for her untitled poem on the regrets a parent felt as they were dying of an overdose when he realizes too late the hold addiction had on him. 

Winner in the undergraduate category was West Virginia University student Jadeyn Dahang-Young, an English major with a minor in Women & Gender Studies, from Charleston, WV. She is currently studying the Chinese language and said that her study abroad trip last year to China was a really big inspiration for winning entry "Silk & Steel"; her story was about a Chinese American woman giving advice on the struggles an adopted Chinese girl may face growing up in America. Ms. Dahang-Young said, “I read The Good Earth as a child and loved it, so I'm so happy that a piece that I feel so strongly about could be a part of the Pearl S. Buck writing competition.” After college, she plans on pursuing writing and becoming an author. 

The winner in the graduate student category was Amber Milstead, a West Virginia Wesleyan College graduate student from Circleville, WV for her story "Grace" about coming home to WV. Once she finishes her MFA, she intends to pursue a doctorate in creative fiction with a focus on magical realism. Ms. Milstead said of her piece, “This piece was written at the intersection of Appalachian family ties and conflict of place in regards to sexual orientation. It is important for Queer Appalachian voices to have representation as both queer and Appalachian, and hopefully through my continued work on this topic, stigmas and stereotypes on both sides of this identity can be illuminated.” 

Associate Vice President for Creative and Scholarly Activity and awards committee chair Melanie Page said “all of the winning entries were impressive – I found myself wanting to know more about each of the characters and sad when the stories ended”.

The Pearl S. Buck Advisory Committee is pleased to announce the inaugural Pearl S. Buck writing competition winners. Students submitted an original piece in any literary genre that best reflected the life and values of Pearl S. Buck. The contest was open to all WV high school, college, and graduate students. The WVU President’s office sponsored cash prizes for all categories and the WVU Department of English awarded a scholarship to the winning high school student for the summer WV Writer’s Workshop. 

The winning entry for high school students was Alyssa Murphy, an 11th grader, from James Monroe High School in Lindside, WV. She said “Entering this competition has opened my view to becoming an author. I love to read books! Because I read so many books I think it helped me to write my story.” Alyssa thanks her English teacher Ms. Anastasia Ward for functioning as an inspiring editor for her story “Dear Appalachia Boy” which is about the hard life of a West Virginia kid in the 1930s and the friendship he forms through letters with a kid from Chicago as they both work to save their older brothers and themselves from a life of crime. 

First place in the undergraduate category was West Virginia University student Jennifer Whitener, from Falling Water, WV who recently graduated with a major in International Studies and Chinese Studies with a concentration in East Asia. She said that she is “most interested in mastering Mandarin” and she will be teaching English in China next year; her story was a short account of her experiences and overall feelings regarding her year-long study abroad trip in Qingdao, China in the style of a blog. 

First runner-up in the undergraduate category was Savanah Alberts. Savanah is from Shepherdstown, WV, and graduated from West Virginia University this May with degrees in English and French. She has recently been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, and will be spending nine months teaching English in Senegal starting this fall. After her Fulbright, she intends to study sociolinguistics in graduate school. Her submission, "Hootin’ and Hollerin’: The Portrayal of Appalachians in Popular Media", written for her senior English capstone course, discusses the often negative and stereotypical linguistic depictions of Appalachians in popular comic strips, and compares these portrayals to those in modern novels written by Appalachians themselves. 

The winner in the graduate student category was Chad Cowell from Morgantown, WV, who earned his BA in journalism at Pennsylvania State University and then spent the next eight years teaching English as a second language in South Korea and is currently a graduate student at West Virginia University studying secondary education with an emphasis on English. Upon graduation, he plans to work as a high school English teacher. His entry was entitled “The Diner” and focuses on Joanna who hasn’t spoken with her mother in many years. When she meets Ying, a mother who is reuniting with her daughter after a lifetime of separation due to China’s One Child Policy, Joanna learns one of life’s most important lessons. It is a story about life, love, and second chances. 

Associate Vice President for Creative and Scholarly Activity and awards committee chair Melanie Page said “all of the winning entries were impressive – it is exciting to see so many students learning about Ms. Buck and what she believed in; it is our hope that this contest grows every year and she is able to inspire more and more students.”