Hear My Voice: A Trine University Writing Competition
The Amy Salyer-Nicholls Writing Center presents Hear My Voice: an annual, campus-wide writing competition to find the best submissions in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and academic writing.
The works being celebrated are student submissions and may not reflect official positions of Trine University.
Category Details
- Academic:
These submissions include research papers, argumentative or persuasive essays, rhetorical and literary analyses, and other styles of formal writing. - Creative Nonfiction:
These entries are true stories written in vivid, compelling styles. Literacy and personal narratives, memoirs, journalistic work, reflections, and profiles are all examples of creative or literary non-fiction. - Fiction:
Entries for this category include imaginative short-stories which follow a general story structure and incorporate literary techniques. - Poetry:
All genres and forms of poetry are welcome in this category.
2025 Contest
Submissions for Hear My Voice 2025 are now CLOSED.
Our 2025 winners have been announced and will be celebrated on Thursday 10 April in Wells Theatre. We'd love for you to join us!
Please contact the Writing Center at writingcenter@trine.edu for further questions regarding submissions.
Click on the links below to reod our winning submissions!
Academic Writing:
1st Place: “What Will it Take to Abolish Capital Punishment: Examining the Effectiveness of Criminology Research and Abolitionist Rhetoric” by Cale Beer
2nd Place: "'White Man’s World': How Gender and Racial Biases Affect One’s Growth in Academia" by Faith Fegley
3rd: Place: “Recognizing Bias Associated with Applicant Tracking Systems” by Kharma Gentner
Student Choice Award: “Generational Effects of Trauma” by Lana Banks
Poetry:
1st Place: “fruitbox” by Areeba Kazi
2nd Place and Student Choice Award: “My Mother's Hands” by Areeba Kazi
3rd Place: “Numbers Game” by Upasana Shrestha
Honorable Mention: “Would you still love me…” by Hope Lang
Non-Fiction:
1st Place: “The Messed Up State of the World” by Hope Lang
2nd Place: “My Name is Honey” by Cadence Bommarito
3rd Place and Student Choice Award: “Identity” by Fahim Faisal Anik
Honorable Mention: “The Clever Hans Phenomenon Conference” by Ava McCall
Fiction:
1st Place: “Girl in the Copper Tower” by Alyssa Martin
2nd Place: “Which One is the Real Susanne” by Tetyana Asher
3rd Place and Student Choice Award: “One Day, When Mom is Dead” by Muriel Mackie
Past Winners
With questions about the contest or the Amy Salyer-Nicholls Writing Center, please contact Dr. Janelle Pulczinski.
History
The Hear My Voice Writing Competition is an annual writing competition organized by the Writing Center with support from the Trine HAC department, the Humanities Institute, and HAC Media. The contest was formerly named after Walter Cunningham, a Tri-State University alumnus from the school of business who has sponsored the competition for years.
Early in his career, while working for the U.S Department of Labor, Mr. Cunningham and his team were asked to write reports that would be used as evidence in federal court cases. He found this experience so challenging that he was inspired to embark on a successful campaign to teach himself to write more effectively. Consequently, he and his wife Don Nell sponsored this annual writing competition from 2008 - 2023. When discussing his own writing experience, Mr. Cunningham noted, “It has been my lack of English and writing skills throughout my life that encourages me at this time in life to attempt to help others understand in some small way, the importance of obtaining these skills early.”
The ASN Writing Center hopes to uphold his legacy by continuing to support student creativity, critical thinking, and clear articulation of ideas through the Hear My Voice writing competition.