On Wednesday, September 30, I attended the 2009 UMD Writing Awards, and I really liked it. It had a lot of great work by students that go to this university. I liked that some people did read to us to show us what they did. It’s to give us inspiring writers a glimpse of their work, so we can challenge ourselves to write better. I was a little disappointed that some people didn’t read, because they were nervous but in reality we are all nervous in front of an audience whether it’s one person or more. I think that they should have gathered enough nerves to read in front of us so we can actually understand why they have won. I did like the non-fiction a lot because it almost gave me a glimpse of what the author had to go through to write this. But from all these awards, I really liked the fiction. Stories that are not real are imaginative, they take a lot of creativity to write, and I find that as a true talent. I hope to one day write fiction stories as well.
In the poetry contest, I was a little disappointed too, because I was expecting a lot, especially due to my own poetry writing. I also wasn’t expecting a short poem to have won but I was happy that it was from a different culture and different religion. I always believed that people that had a different ethnicity can and should teach others about their culture. So they can help understand more of the outside world.
Overall, I really enjoyed the experience and already anticipating next year’s awards, especially since I will be entering most of my writings as well.