By GEOFF DUPAIX
geoff@du2.byu.edu
An author who writes about a little girl winning an essay competition normally wouldn't expect to win a competition herself. However, that's just what happened to BYU graduate, Lisa Hale.
Hale, 25, a graduate student from Salt Lake City studying English, won first place in the juvenile novel category of the 1998 Utah Original Writing Competition, for her novel,'When I Say ...'.
About 54 books were entered in the juvenile category and 548 books were entered into the overall competition, which is sponsored by the Utah Arts Council.
Hale won $1,000 and will attend an awards ceremony along with the other competition participants at the governor's mansion Oct. 15. Her book will be considered for a $5,000 publication award that will be presented next year. Guy Lebeda, literary director for the Utah Arts Council, said the publication award is given to a publication company to help cover printing costs.
Chris Crowe, professor of English and Hale's former teacher, said Hale is one of only a small number of students to win an award in this state-wide competition.
What makes her award even more impressive is that she won in the category she did. Lebeda said other students have won in the poetry and fiction categories of the competition, 'but it's rare in the juvenile category.'
Crowe, who has been a judge in past competitions, said 'there's some books you read where there's a character that you can relate to and that you care about and that's what makes a good book. She's a very talented writer.'
But if you ask Hale, she would rather not receive any attention or accolades which come from such an achievement. She said if Crowe hadn't encouraged her to submit her story, it would probably still be sitting a shelf waiting to be revised and polished.
'Crowe thought it was good enough to win and he kept asking me if I had submitted it yet, but I didn't think it was ready. I still had to rewrite and revise it,' Hale said.
The story is about a 11 year-old girl named 'Letitia Going' who comes from a poor family living in the outskirts of Salt Lake.
Hale said her story is 'thematic', meaning that the novel is comprised of 'short stories that are hope-building and in the end the little girl wins an essay competition about herself. It's kind of a progression of thought where in the end, she finds out that she is somebody.'
Hale said she doesn't want people to think she is drawing completely from personal experiences, but she does pull from tidbits.
'Every time you write, you draw from your life. It's never exactly you, but bits and pieces of your life,' Hales said.
One criteria for the competition was how well children might relate to the story, Lebeda said.
'It's hard to write for kids and a lot of good writers just can't do it.' Lebeda said.
Teresa Desmond who judged the juvenile category, said writing for children is difficult.
'We approach things form an adult perspective rather than from a child's point of view. It's very hard to get the right blend of sophistication and innocence,' she said.
Lebeda said another reason why many writers have difficulties writing to children is 'they get lost in the technical aspects and forget to tell a good, ripping story.'
Lisa's mother said the award came as no surprise.
'It's about time. She works hard and she's very good at writing, but I'm her mother, I'm prejudiced,' she said.
Desmond said she was also impressed with Lisa's writing because she was able 'to bring up issues like poverty and single parent families as well as children's issues but kept the character as the main focus of the story.'
Hales said she plans to publish the book and hopes to become a published writer and a teacher. She said she likes writing for nine to eleven year-old children 'because that's the most imaginative time of life.'