Emyl Jenkins Award

JRW Announces Emyl Jenkins Award Recipients Sophia Volpi, Louise Ball, and Hampton Roads Writers

James River Writers is pleased to announce the 2013 winners of the Emyl Jenkins Award: Hampton Roads Writers and the team of Sophia Volpi and Louise Ball.

Shawna Christos with Emyl Jenkins in 2009
Award Chair Shawna Christos with Emyl Jenkins in 2009

The awards honor the memory of the late Emyl Jenkins, passionate writing advocate and much-missed JRW member, by acknowledging those in Virginia who best represent her love of connecting and encouraging all writers.

“We all need the laughter and encouragement that she brought to our lives, and since she’s no longer with us, we need to know of the others who are making Virginia a better place for all of us writers,” said award committee chair Shawna Christos.

VolpiandBall
Emyl Jenkins Award Winners Sophia Volpi and Louise Ball

A powerful team strengthening the Charlottesville writing community, Sophia Volpi and Louise Ball have worked tirelessly as co-Municipal Liaisons for their local NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and as co-founders of the WriterHouse SFF (Sci-Fi/Fantasty/Speculative Fiction) Group. More

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Remembering Emyl Jenkins

Just Ten Days Left to Submit Emyl Jenkins Award Nominations

by Shawna Christos
JRW Board Member

Emyl Jenkins 1941-2010Being asked to write about Emyl Jenkins and the James River Writers award named for her has not been an easy task for me, many words have been written and many more deleted. These are the best ones I could find to try to explain the Emyl I knew, and why the JRW Award named for her is important.

She was so multi-faceted and involved in so many organizations and with so many people that I’m sure everyone thinks of her a bit differently. From her beloved garden, antiques, and work with several organizations, as well as her own writing and books, Emyl never seemed to slow down much. With all this, she also was never failing in her support and encouragement of other writers, no matter their age, no matter where they were in their writing skills or endeavors.More

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Celebrating Creative Spirits: 2012 Jenkins Award Recipients

“Give back to your community and your industry.  Become a mentor or an intern sponsor … Never forget to credit those who helped you become the artist and the person you are today. Give back and you too will receive.”

Creative consultant Mary Virginia Swanson used these sentences to end a piece called “A Brief List of Self-Assignments for Artists.” While this may seem like easy advice to follow, sometimes it is equally instructive to learn from another’s example.  James River Writers nurtures a similar creative spirit by hosting Writers Wednesdays, organizing yearly conferences, and finding myriad opportunities to bring writers together in central Virginia.  But an honor like the Emyl Jenkins Award allows an organization like JRW to recognize the individuals and organizations that also strengthen the local writing community.

More

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A First for Two: 2011 Jenkins Award Recipients

Congratulations to Jean Anderson and WriterHouse for receiving the first Emyl Jenkins Awards. Anderson is Richmond liaison for National Novel Writing Month and WriterHouse is a nonprofit writers’ community in Charlottesville.

Here is more about the winners:

Jean Anderson
Nominated by Kristi Austin Tuck

Jean Anderson visiting a school in Hampton Roads to introduce NaNoWriMo to students During National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), writers around the
world each try to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Last year, more than 200,000 writers participated — 366 in Richmond wrote 7,865,382 words — including Anderson, a science fiction writer also known as “LuckyJean” among NaNoWriMo participants. The judges cited Anderson for encouraging writers, especially fledglings, to get words down on the page, something Jenkins did with infectious enthusiasm.

WriterHouse
Nominated by Heather K. Michon

WriterHouse Since 2008, WriterHouse has served writers at all levels by offering work space, writing classes, seminars, critique groups, readings and events. Michon nominated the group for the way it builds a community for writers in the Charlottesville area. In WriterHouse, the judges saw the reflection of Emyl Jenkins’ knack for connecting people.

back
Back to Emyl Jenkins Award index page

 

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