Virginia Outdoor Writers Association
Congratulations to our Excellence-In-Craft Writing, Photography, and Illustration Winners!
VOWA is pleased to present the winners of our 2022 Excellence-In-Craft Competition
Note: Many of the titles are links to the writer's work... read and enjoy!
OUTSTANDING BOOK
FIRST PLACE
Lisa Connors
Oyster Matters
Lisa grew up in a suburb south of Pittsburgh and has always loved the outdoors. She spent many days in an undeveloped lot nearby climbing trees, discovering caterpillars, and dreaming. She has a fondness for the often- maligned predator in food chains and wanted to be a wolf biologist when she was younger. Instead, she experimented with being a medical technologist, a molecular biologist technician and a teacher. Deep down inside there was always a desire to be a writer.
Kate’s stunning photo engages the viewer and shows the rugged landscape these Icelandic horses call home. Outstanding work Kate, congratulations!
OUTSTANDING BLOG
.jpeg)
FIRST PLACE
Peter Brookes
Brookes Outdoors
A D.C. foreign policy nerd by day and Virginia outdoor writer by night, Peter Brookes chases feather, fur, and fin wherever and whenever he can—and occasionally scribbles about his outings for a variety of online and print outlets.
OUTSTANDING COLUMN
FIRST PLACE
Amanda Creasey
"The Longest Yards"
Cooperative Living Magazine March 2022
Amanda is an award-winning and widely published freelance writer.
She is a graduate of Michigan State University, where she earned her undergraduate degree in German, with a minor in English. In 2013, she completed a graduate degree in creative writing at University of Denver. She has been a high school English teacher since 2006.
For several years, she has worked as a juror for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. She is also a current VOWA board member.
Recently, she signed her first book contract for her speculative fiction manuscript, due out in book form in 2023. Subscribe to her biweekly author newsletter here.
OUTSTANDING COLUMN
SECOND PLACE
C.C. McCotter
"The Last Woodcock Hunt"
Woods and Waters Magazine March 2021
An outdoor writer since 1993 and Lake Anna guide since 1994, C.C. McCotter has been at the helm of Woods & Waters Magazine as publisher since 2000. He began work for the Virginia outdoor media platform in 1994. For many years he kept the torch of Bob Gooch’s Virginia Afield weekly outdoor column burning in many local newspapers. He’s written thousands of articles over the years based on his adventures and the people he meets.
“One of my life’s passions remains sharing the story of a special hunting or fishing expedition and bringing to life the people and places I meet and travel to using various media.”
When he’s not guiding or operating Lake Anna Outfitters, the family-owned gift shop and paddlesport retail/rental center, McCotter manages the W2 staff and oversees the monthly publication and accompanying social media platform. He resides at Lake Anna with his wife and Managing Editor, Chrissie. His daughter is a teacher for Spotsylvania County and his son is a junior at Virginia Tech. He has a Britanny spaniel named Rhodie and a Jack Russell terrier named Fergus.
OUTSTANDING COLUMN
THIRD PLACE
Peter Brookes
"Wrangling Chesapeake Rays"
Woods and Waters Magazine July 2021
See Peter's biography above
OUTSTANDING FEATURE STORY
Clarke Chastain Jones grew up surrounded by the history of the small village of
Midlothian, Virginia, and earned a degree in finance from the University of Richmond. He has been published in Virginia Living, Virginia Wildlife, The Virginia Sportsman, The Upland Almanac, FiftyPlus, Shooting Sportsman, and American History magazines. His award-winning articles cover the outdoors, travel and leisure, shooting sports, dogs, people, and life (with a twist of humor). The popular column “Off the Leash”, featured in Virginia Wildlife magazine, is a collaboration between Clarke and Luke, his black Labrador retriever. You can visit his website at www.clarkecjones.com
OUTSTANDING FEATURE STORY
SECOND PLACE
Nancy Sorrells
"Rare Sinkhole Ponds"
Sempervirens, Virginia Native Plant Society state newsletter
For more than 40 years, Nancy has found ways to combine her loves of history, journalism, photography, and the great outdoors. She became interested in outdoor journalism in the 1980s while working in the sports department of a daily newspaper, where she started the paper’s outdoors page. That was thousands of articles, photos, and a couple of books ago. She continues to freelance for a number of publications where she writes about outdoor adventure including biking and hiking as well as tackling environmental issues. She has been the editor of Sempervirens, the statewide newsletter of the Virginia Native Plant Society since last century. She is a VOWA past president and has been VOWA’s long-time secretary. She shares 10 acres of land in Augusta County with her husband Randy, two crazy dogs, a very large cat, and a few fish.
OUTSTANDING FEATURE STORY
THIRD PLACE
Marie Majarov
"Restoring the Wild with a Quail-Friendly Wildlife Corridor"
DWR.Virginia.gov October 2021
Marie Majarov (www.majarov.com), is a photojournalist whose work has been featured regularly in Virginia Wildlife Magazine. Marie is also an active Virginia Master Naturalist and Habitat Partners© trained habitat educator. She lives on a lovely old woodland edge in Winchester VA with her husband Milan where they are active with a large pollinator garden, the Virginia Outdoor Writers Association, and Virginia Native Plant Society.
NEWSLETTER
FIRST PLACE
Nancy Sorrells
"Sempervirens"
See Nancy's biography above
NEWSLETTER
SECOND PLACE
Tim Koppenhaver
"Shenandoah Saw Whet"
Tim Koppenhaver grew up in Maryland, where in the woods behind his suburban home, a passion for the outdoors was born. Family trips to beaches in Florida, the woods of Pennsylvania, lakes in New Hampshire, and the aridness of Arizona drove that love even more. Following the advice of a college professor, he started journalling in 1988 and has not stopped writing since. Most passionately, he writes about outdoor travel. In 2016, he took a sabbatical to visit The Nature Conservancy preserves in Virginia and across the country writing several articles about those experiences. In 2019, he established the Shenandoah Saw-whet newsletter – a quarterly publication of the Virginia Master Naturalists Shenandoah Chapter and continues to serve as editor. Tim enjoys living in Virginia and considers it a microcosm of America. Its four-season weather and geographic diversity – from shorelines to mile-high mountains – are a literary inspiration.
NEWSLETTER
THIRD PLACE
Peter Brookes
"Trout Line"
See Peters biography above
PUBLISHED PHOTOGRAPH
.jpg)
FIRST PLACE
Emily Grey
"Virginia Wildlife Back Cover"
Virginia Wildlife, May/June 2021
I love anything nature, outdoors, culture, and world exploration.
At my Chesapeake Bay home, I enjoy cycling, gardening and landscaping. Spending time with good people and my ginger feline companion, Andre, also inspire me. Photography and creative writing are my passions.
PUBLISHED PHOTOGRAPH
SECOND PLACE
C.C. McCotter
"Flogging with Ship"
Woods and Waters Magazine
See C.C.'s biography above
PUBLISHED PHOTOGRAPH
THIRD PLACE
Nancy Sorrells
"Sunset Silhouette"
2022 Calendar Cover
See Nancy's biography above
UNPUBLISHED PHOTOGRAPH
FIRST PLACE
Amanda Creasey
"Paddling Presley Creek"
See Amanda's biography above
.jpg)
UNPUBLISHED PHOTOGRAPH
SECOND PLACE
Amanda Creasey
"Fleabane"
See Amanda's biography above
.jpg)
UNPUBLISHED PHOTOGRAPH
THIRD PLACE
Nancy Sorrells
"Breakfast for Chester the Heron"
See Nancy's biography above
SPECIAL AWARDS
FLY FISHERS OF VIRGINIA CONSERVATION AWARD
Amanda Creasey
"Appalachia’s Conservation Story"
See Amanda's biography above
SPECIAL AWARDS
MOSSY CREEK FLY FISHING AWARD
Robert Thomas
Newsletter of the Fly Fishers of Virginia
Robert Thomas is an award winning professional photographer/writer with many published articles and photographs. An avid outdoorsman, he is active in the fly-fishing industry teaching classes, conducting seminars, and hosting adventure trips throughout North and South America. Robert is the current Chairman of VOWA’s Board of Directors and chairs the organization’s Excellence-In-Craft competition. In addition, he is a member of the Mason-Dixon Outdoor Writers Association. Robert lives in Henrico, Virginia with his wife Joan and spoiled rotten dog Liza.
SPECIAL AWARDS
APPALACHIAN HEADWATERS FOCUS ON POLLINATORS AWARD
Nancy Sorrells
"Sempervirens" Newsletter of the Virginia Native Plant Society
See Nancy's biography above
Special thanks to our Excellence-In-Craft sponsors: the Fly Fishers of Virginia, Appalachian Headwaters and Mossy Creek Fly Fishing. We also send our gratitude to the many fine judges involved in this competition for their generous donation of time, patience, and expertise in judging our contest.
VOWA thanks Robert Thomas for all his efforts in chairing and organizing this successful Excellence-In-Craft competition.