GENEii Writers Contest Winners Announced

GENEII WINNERS
by Pam Wiedenbeck

Congratulations to the winners of the 2014 GENEii Family History Writers Contest, sponsored by the Southern California Genealogical Society! The Family History Writing Contest honors writers who show mastery in the genres of Memoir and Literary Non-fiction.

223 entries were submitted by 178 authors. This is more than double last year's participation. The response was truly global. 41 of the 50 states were represented, as well as our first submission from Puerto Rico, a United States territory. In addition, we have entries from Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Serbia, Turkey and various places in the British Isles. For winners, this seems to be a California year with 5 of 12 winners from the Golden State.

Many thanks to all the authors who collectively contributed these 223 entries making this the largest GENEii contest ever. The winning submissions will be published in The Searcher during 2015 and 2016 as indicated below. Winning entries from past years can be found on the SCGS website.

Category 1: submissions from 1,000 to 2,000 words

• First Place: "Jonathan Emery " – Adrienne Boaz of Oxford, Michigan – Summer 2015
• Second Place: "My Grandmother is My Guru" – Kelly Hirt of Snoqualmie, Washington – Winter 2016
• Third Place: "Childhood’s Last Stand " – Lauren Reynolds of Bel Air, Maryland – Winter 2016
• Runner Up: " At the Crossroads " – Amy Gordon of Gill, Massachusetts – Spring 2016
• Honorable Mention: "Boca De La Playa" – Joyce Roberson of West Hills, California – Fall 2015
• Honorable Mention: "Veiled Grace" – Cathy Wilson of Huntington Beach, California – Fall 2015

Category 2: submissions under 1,000 words

• First Place: "Patrol Boat Stop on the Mekong River" – Michelle Robin La of Santa Barbara, California – Summer 2015
• Second Place: "Under the Sun" – Kharis Adirahsetio of Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia – Spring 2016
• Third Place: "My Great-Grandmother, Isabella" – Cassie Shehadeh of Monrovia, California – Winter 2016
• Runner Up: "A Sprig of Life" – Jeremy Flood of Summerville, South Carolina – Spring 2016
• Honorable Mention: "The Little Engine that Could" – Erika Hoffman of Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Summer 2015
• Honorable Mention: "Uncovering Dad’s Secret History" – Fred Land of West Lake Village, California – Fall 2015

Note: The Searcher issues cover these dates - Summer 2015 (July-Sept.); Fall 2015 (Oct-Dec); Winter 2016 (Jan-Mar); Spring 2016 (Apr-June)