A record number of students submitted their work to the second annual Central Oregon Community College Student Writing Contest. Winners were announced last week and will be celebrated during a public reading event, along with a launch party of the new edition of COCC’s literary magazine, The Thread, Friday, June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Pioneer Hitchcock Auditorium. Light refreshments will be served and all are welcome. Click on the winning titles to read the four top entries, which The Broadside is proud to publish. Here is a complete list of winners: 

Academic nonfiction/scholarly 

First prize: “Mental Mandala” by Chris Gonzales 

Second Place: “Gabapentin: Is It Worth It?” by Tony Wolfer 

Creative nonfiction 

First prize: “Do I Fit the Name or Does the Name Fit Me?” by Cindy Lin Nguyen  

Second prize: “The Rite of Passage From Teen to Adulthood: A Jarring Transition” by Savanna Schlappy 

Fiction 

First prize: “Goo Goo Ga Ga” by Dylan Piazza  

Second prize: “Abalone Buttons” by Katya Agatucci 

Poetry 

First prize: “The Mathematics of Survival” by Julian Hasbun 

Second prize: “mariposas” by Neil Weiss