Senior English Education Major Wins National Poetry Competition

A Fairmont State University senior English Education major has been selected as one of two winners of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS) College/University Level Poetry Competition.

Ian Williams, a Fairmont native, was selected as one of two first-place winners by a panel of three independent judges at the competition for his manuscript “House of Bones.” Williams will graduate from FSU in May and plans to pursue an MFA in Poetry. The other first-prize winner, Lisa Levin, is a senior at UC-Berkeley.

“I am thrilled for Ian. His work is outstanding,” said Dr. Donna J. Long, Professor of English.

Williams will receive the Florence Kahn Memorial Award, which includes a $500 cash award and publication of his chapbook in an edition of 100 copies. He has been invited to attend the 2014 NFSPS Convention to be held June 26-29 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and to give a reading from his new chapbook.

A non-profit organization, the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS) is dedicated to the furtherance of poetry on the national level and serves to unite poets in the bonds of fellowship and understanding.

For more information about the English Education program at Fairmont State, click here.

College of Liberal ArtsLanguage & LiteratureDonna LongIan WilliamsEnglishpoetrySchool of EducationHealth and Human Performance