Ana Alexander ’16
Ana Alexander ’16
English: Writing Major Winsted, Minn.
When Alexander was seven years old, she wrote a letter to J.K. Rowling in crayon, giving her plot suggestions for future Harry Potter novels. She has an affinity for puns, an obsession with the Roaring Twenties, and loves coffee. She is an advertisement representative and features editor for WSU’s weekly student newspaper, The Winonan, the prose editor for Satori, WSU’s fine arts magazine, and a member of Sigma Tau Delta.
Alexander won in the category of nonfiction essay with “Stuck in the Clouds,” selected by creative nonfiction author Kent Cowgill.
“Ana Alexander’s essay stood out on a number of fronts,” said Cowgill. “It shows a rich command of interesting narrative detail; its pacing, handling of dialogue, and humorous touches were all unusually compelling for an undergraduate writer; and not least, it treated the sky-diving experience with both the enthusiasm of a budding addict and the kind of objective distance that attracts those readers, like myself, who find the adventure both tempting and terrifying to try.”
Kaysey Price ’16
Kaysey Price ’16
Literature And Writing Major Detroit Lakes, Minn.
Price’s first poem was a four line, 2nd Grade composition about her non-existent pet dog. She is a features writer for The Winonan, a mentor for Teen Voices, the poetry editor for this year’s Satori, and a member of Sigma Tau Delta. Her interests include quoting Gilmore Girls, making puns, exploring what goes unsaid, and deconstructing beliefs that are taken for granted.
Price took top category for her poetry submissions, selected by poet Betsy Wheeler. “The wholly original voice of Kaysey Price’s poems struck me immediately — their attention to rhythm and sound, their inventive use of verbs, and their delight in life and language. I wanted to read them aloud, repeatedly, and to inhabit the world they explore,” Wheeler commented.
Leah Perri ’16
English Major Kenosha, Wis.
Leah Perri ’16
Perri earned a scholarship for her short story, “Date Night,” selected by fiction writer Patrick Hicks. Perri is a Kenosha, Wis., native and a senior at WSU, where she will graduate with a B.A. in English: Writing. She is currently the education reporter for the Winona Daily News and has over 200 clips, ranging from explanatory pieces on K-12 education to larger projects, such as a series of vignettes on returned Peace Corps volunteers.
Other notable experience includes writing for Project FINE’s Hearing the Voices, a project that features the stories of 15 Winona County refugees and immigrants, and mentoring area high school students in a poetry group called Teen Voices. Perri is also a writing tutor on campus. She plans to travel and work on organic farms in Europe for a year before pursuing a communications career at a nonprofit organization focusing on sustainability.
“Leah Perri’s marvelous story, ‘Date Night,’ explores issues of love and loss, growing older and letting go. With clear prose and a poignant narrative, she introduces two neighbors that don’t seem to have much in common, and yet they need each other. A beautiful story that says much about the human condition,” stated Hicks.
