What follows is the official announcement of the winners of CCAD’s annual writing awards. We’re thrilled to feature these talented writers in the upcoming issue of Botticelli!
CCAD’s Writing and Literature Department is thrilled to announce the winners of the 11th Annual CCAD Creative Writing Awards. For each genre, the winner receives $300 and publication in this spring’s print issue of Botticelli while the runner-up receives $100 and publication in a future print or online issue of Botticelli. Additionally, award recipients have the option of reading from their work at CHROMA, CCAD’s annual exhibition, in May 2026.
We’d like to extend a special thanks to this year’s judges for their generous time and expertise. Sara Abou Rashed judged the poetry category while Mary Quade judged the prose category and Amy Drake returned to judge the screenwriting category. Their bios follow the award announcements below.
To all of the CCAD students who submitted their work: Your talent, insights, and courage inspire in these anxious times.
POETRY
Winner: “Mud Puddle of the Mind” by Velvet
Judge’s Comments: “This poem truly lives up to its name. It is energetic, full of curiosity and offers unique connections, jumping from one area of the mind to another. Most striking, however, is the poet’s sense of language on the page, their pace, their rhythm, their controlled twists and turns, even the occasional rhyme which doesn’t distract but contributes greatly to the preoccupations of the poem.”
Runner-Up: “Blue Eyed Baby” by Adara Dobson
Judge’s Comments: “In only a few short lines, this poem haunts and offers a grand finale: ‘the best thing that i could ever do for my future daughter / is never be her mother.’ The line breaks are sharp as are the conceptual connections made between lines, from blue and lineage to the responsibility of motherhood and the danger of slaughter. This poem is one that stays with whoever comes across it. I applaud the poet’s sense of carving it from life.”
PROSE
Winner: “In Spades” by Adara Dobson
Judge’s Comments: “In this essay about family, thoughtfully structured using card games, I was impressed by the author’s use of detail and their authority as a writer. They quickly immerse us in the world of their family and the various card games that reflect their relationships, from the worn-out cards at their great-grandmother’s cabin to their mother’s tarot cards that, like many of their mother’s things, are linked to tragedy. The author has a talent for carefully chosen description and insightful metaphor. They had me with the sentence ‘My great grandmother taught me solitaire, and I learned how to be comfortable with being alone.’ So much to admire in this essay that is full of voice and rich in real-life complexity. “
Runner-Up: “Motheramphetamines” by Alex Skelly
Judge’s Comments: “The strongest moments of this clear-eyed portrayal of a parent’s struggles with addiction unfold with the author’s honest depictions of a life complicated by a loved one who is often in trouble, ‘when your mother’s name is literally googleable.’ They write matter-of-factly, knowing how to illustrate the contradictions of loving someone who brings pain. This passage, for instance: ‘Things in our house had the uncanny ability to grow legs and just walk away. Piggie banks, wii games, my entire gameboy collection, my grandmother’s prescription meds, the memorial ring of my sibling’s ashes, all gone.’ The author tells this story, the bad and the good, with wisdom and compassion, understanding that the truth unembellished creates the most compelling portrait. What a vivid reminder of what it means to appreciate another person’s humanity.”
SCREENWRITING
Winner: “Brume” by Tori Phillips
Judge’s Comments: “This script was tight with a gripping story, good character descriptions, and a great build-up of tension. The dialogue was realistic and conversational. I want to know: what happens next?”
Runner-Up: “It’s Cold and I Miss You” by Ross Osterholt
Judge’s Comments: “This is an engrossing character study of a young adult who has been ghosted by someone dear to him. The story depicts how Connor’s life unravels as he retreats into childhood comfort trying to make sense of Selena’s disappearance.”
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2026 Judge Bios
Sara Abou Rashed is a Palestinian American poet, speaker, and the author of Theories of Return (Diode Editions, 2026). A former poetry fellow at the Vermont Studio Center, her work has been commended by the UK Forward Prize and received the 2023 Hopwood Award for Poetry from the University of Michigan, where she earned her MFA. Sara’s writing appears in The Kenyon Review, The LA Review of Books, Poetry Magazine, 9-12 McGraw Hill Language Arts Curriculum, among numerous others. A graduate of Denison University, she is the creator of the one-woman show, A Map of Myself, and is currently pursuing her PhD at The Ohio State University. https://saraabourashed.com/
Amy Drake, MA, MS MCM, is a playwright, producer, filmmaker, and speaker. The Kilroys List. Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive, Yale Writers’ Workshop. Member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, Theater Makers Studio, Dramatists Guild, Theater Resources Unlimited, P.A.G.E.S. Storyteller, executive producer, and actor in the Telly Award winning film Showdown in Amherst. Visual arts columnist for The Columbus Dispatch. National Society of Collegiate Scholars. IABC Winner of the Silver Quill of Excellence. Appeared in the regional Emmy-winning episode of Columbus Neighborhoods, numerous commercials, and short films. Playwright of Somewhere I Can Scream, residency at The Players Theatre, NYC. https://amydrake.com/
Mary Quade is the author of Guide to Native Beasts (Cleveland State University Poetry Center) and Local Extinctions (Gold Wake) and the winner of the 2022 The Journal Non/Fiction Prize. Look for her newest book Zoo World: Essays from The Ohio State University Press/Mad Creek Books. A graduate of the University of Chicago and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she is the recipient of an Oregon Literary Fellowship and five Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards for both poetry and creative nonfiction (2006, 2010, 2014, 2020, 2026). She is a professor of English at Hiram College in Ohio, where she teaches creative writing. http://maryquade.com/
CCAD’s Creative Writing Awards are limited to current CCAD undergraduates. Students are allowed to submit in more than one genre and do not have to be creative writing minors or have taken creative writing courses to submit. All entries were evaluated by judges from outside the CCAD community via a double-blind review process. Special thanks to Dr. Josh Butts, who founded the Creative Writing Awards in 2015, and the writing faculty who have taught CCAD’s students so well.
