The Persky Awards recognize the best work-in creative writing, journalism, art, photography and production-appearing in Milton Academy student publications. Award-winning student writers and artists celebrated with faculty and guests in Cox Library recently at the Laurence S. Persky Memorial Award ceremony. Laura Gottesdiener ’06 was this year’s featured speaker. Laura is a journalist, social justice activist, and author of A Dream Foreclosed: Black America and the Fight for a Place to Call Home. She has written for Rolling Stone, Ms.magazine, The Arizona Republic, The New Haven Advocate, The Huffington Post, AlterNet, and other publications.
The Persky Awards honor the memory of a Milton student writer who passed away just prior to his Class I year, in 1978.
This School award is unique in that judges are professional writers and artists. This year’s judges were Bruce Mohl, editor of Commonwealth Magazine, poet Jesse Graves, visual arts department chair Ian Torney, and Gregory Mone, a novelist and science writer.
CREATIVE WRITING:
Best Poem: Julia Grace for “My Father, Falling Asleep at the Wheel,” Magus Mabus, Spring, 2015
Best Fiction: Hannah Iafrati for “A Story for David,” Magus Mabus, Spring, 2015
JOURNALISM:
Best Editorial: Constantine Velmahos, Iladro Sauls, Hannah Iafrati, Katie Berry, Minh-Anh Day, and Neekon Vafafor “Extramural Extracurriculars,” The Milton Measure, December 5, 2014
Best Commentary: Hari Patel for overall excellence, The Milton Paper
Best News Story: Katie Berry for “Todd Bland Makes $635,392 Annually,” The Milton Measure, September 19, 2014
Best News Feature: Tiara Sharma for “Out Of Sight, Not Out Of Mind, An Overview of Mental Health Support at Milton,” The Milton Paper, April 10, 2015
Best Sports Story: Kate Blauer for “Playing ‘Like A Girl'” The F-Word, Winter, 2015
Best Arts Story: Ellen Askey for “I Love I Hate Hamlet, Inside The Preparation For The Winter Play,” The Milton Paper, February 20, 2015
Best Science Essay: Julia Grace for “Left-Brained, Right-Brained Myth: Debunked,” Helix, 2014-2015
ART:
Best Work of Art: Caroline Wall for “Specimen #705,” page 81, Magus Mabus, Winter, 2014
Best Work of Photography: Juliet Pesner for untitled photograph, page 28, Magus Mabus, Winter, 2014
YEARBOOK AWARDS:
For Outstanding Contributions to the Production of the Yearbook: Jacob Aronoff and Julia Lebovitz
For Outstanding Dedication to and Oversight of the Yearbook Production Process: Caitlin Cheng
