SILVER CITY, NM—The WNMU Department of Humanities has announced this year’s winners of the Creative Writing Contest: Anais Orantez Middleton, Arielle Certosimo, Katie Ortiz y Pino and Natalee Drissell.

Orantez, who won first place in prose for her story “What Doesn’t Kill You Will Probably Kill You”, describes her work as fiction that is inspired by her own experiences living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). “I think the most exciting thing about winning is knowing that my story, even if it was only a little bit, was heard and understood,” said Orantez. “For so long, I was afraid of letting anyone know how bad the obsessions and compulsions got, and I was suffering in complete silence. Now, I am happy to be able to spread OCD awareness because no one should ever have to suffer in that same silence.”

Certosimo won first place in poetry for her work “Year of the Dragon,” which is about fire. She explained that the poem was inspired by a night she and her husband spent in a rented cabin that had a wood-burning fireplace. “We spent the whole night tending to, feeding and staring at the fire,” she explained. “I was so inspired by the aliveness of the fire, the primal nature that awakened in me from spending time with the fire, and the different shapes it took on, one of them being a dragon. I imagined that whoever dreamt up the mythological creature many, many years ago did so by staring into a fire just as I had been on this night.”

Ortiz y Pino’s second-place winning entry for prose, “A Lifetime of Change,” came out of her Introduction to Journalism class. “It felt good to learn that I’d won a prize for it,” said Ortiz y Pino. “I really was surprised because I suppose I have a bit of imposter syndrome. I’ve always enjoyed writing so much it felt like a nice surprise.”

Drissell won second place in poetry for her poem “My Unearthly Adolescence.” “My poem takes the experience of growing up and explores it through concepts rooted in astronomy,” said Drissell. “I aim to invoke something personal for each reader, rooted in growing pains we’ve all experienced at some point in our lives.”

Drissell said that winning a prize for her work helped affirm that writing could become a career. “I’m excited each time my writing finds a place in the world,” she added.

Each of the winning entries is excerpted below.

 

First Place in Prose: Anais Orantez Middleton

Excerpt from “What Doesn’t Kill You Will Probably Kill You”

Laura woke up feeling … uncomfortable – to say the least. Charlie was damn near lying over her whole face, she was still in her jeans, and all the lights were on. The clock marked 7:34M. She never made it to bed last night.

Sleeping was hard. All the time. Sleeping shouldn’t be hard. Laura recalled trying to get up, but the couch pulled her in with the promise of safety. The lights were on, the TV was on, and Charlie was right in her lap. The light from the hallway shined brightly into the living area, but it did not whisper the same comfort as the voices that came through the screen. Another cup of coffee and some more TV and she would be fine.

 

First Place in Poetry: Arielle Certosimo

Excerpt from “Year of the Dragon”

Journey through darkness

Gathering limbs of Juniper

Instinct initiated

 

Embers embracing amber golden hope

Always living

Always dying

Just like me

 

Second Place in Prose: Katie Ortiz y Pino

Excerpt from “A Lifetime of Change: Julie Dunleavy Reflects on 81 Years of Love, Art, and Resilience”

The small white stucco house in Albuquerque’s Nob Hill District feels alive with color and light. Sunlight floods the dining room, bouncing off the wood floors that glisten beneath it. Crystals hang in the window, casting delicate rainbows across the room. At the center, a giant easel holds a half-finished painting with bold splashes of dark red, brown, and black that contrast with the serene warmth of the space.

At 81, Julie Dunleavy has lived through eras of tremendous societal change. Standing at a petite 5’2” with a sturdy frame, her movements are slower after multiple knee surgeries. As she shuffles across the room, she groans softly but laughs it off.

“Getting old isn’t for the faint of heart,” she jokes, flashing a warm smile that reveals her strength beneath her small stature.

 

Second Place in Poetry: Natalie Drissell

Excerpt from “My Unearthly Adolescence”

In the folds of the fabric of reality I carved my initials with pieces of shattered starlight;

The forms of existence hold traces of my teenage graphite.

In my desperation I strove to drink the creamy light of the galaxy,

but I was too afraid of its endless milky waves.