The Student Literary Award is part of a larger competition hosted by the League for Innovation, which is open to community college students across North America. For the last 50 years, The League for Innovation in the Community College has pursued its mission to cultivate innovation and excellence in the community college environment, and Austin Community College is a proud partner in this mission.
One aspect of this partnership is our participation in the Student Literary Award competition, which affords our students the opportunity to showcase their creative literary talent. Our judges were very impressed with all the submissions this year, and in particular, they celebrated the variety of styles and interpretations represented in the student submissions.
In addition to the competition winners, our judges also selected a series of short stories and poems for publication on our website. I encourage you to visit and enjoy the many visions and voices of our students and authors!
Here are our ACC’s 2021 winners of the League for Innovation Student Literary Award.
Short Story Winners
1st Place – “A Million Blessings” by Cole Doss
2nd Place – “Acceptance” by Elisa Diaz-Rocha
3rd Place – “Athena & Arachne” by Grace Kelly
Honorable Mention – “Blinded with Glasses” by Ellie Ringo
Honorable Mention – “The Least I Could Do” by Manu Perinchery
Poetry Winners
1st Place – “The Boxes” by Makayla Latham
2nd Place – “For the Love of Whatever is Close Enough” by Daniel Walton
3rd Place – “Emotional Walls” by Nicholas Sanchez
Honorable Mention – “Quien Soy Yo” by Daniel Benoit
Honorable Mention – “Where Did I Go Wrong” by Kaya Kimball
Personal Essay Winners
1st Place – “Cut Down” by Geoffrey Hall
2nd Place – “Separate Paths” by Tejas Basu
3rd Place – “Good Deeds” by Alexandra Cussimanio
Honorable Mention – “If You Want to Change the World, Start by Making Your Bed” by Tanner Elias
Notable Mentions
“Mo’s Place” by Seth Armas
“Hospital Room” by Victoria Jones
“The Coupe Countdown” by Griffin Shaffer