I’ve won the Vanderbilt University Medical Center House Organ (an in-house magazine) Annual Writing Contest in the poetry division. As an employee of Vanderbilt, I have entered every year since I started working here, but there are nearly 20,000 employees and I don’t know how many send in entries.
Last year, Wayne Wood, the director of News & Public Affairs gave me a very courteous phone call to inform me that although the committee chose a different poem, he personally thought that mine was a winner. It was published as the first poem on the honorable mentions page. This year, he called me to congratulate me on winning. They sent a professional photographer over this week and I will be featured in the July House Organ. It is a free publication, but only available around the Vanderbilt campus. If you have occasion to be at the Medical Center for any reason in July, pick one up and peruse it. There were also prose fiction and non-fiction categories, so the whole issue will be a good read.
I’ll try to pick up some extra copies, but I don’t know how many I’ll actually be able to get. I have the winning poem posted here already, but it’s a bit far back on the list. Here’s a quick link to access it if you’re curious. Grace and peace to all my friends and family!