After a short career in engineering and a long stretch as a stay-at-home parent, Rachel Lorenz enrolled in Metropolitan State University of Denver to study journalism. Her stories have appeared in the The Colorado Independent, Colorado Politics, The Metropolitan, Albuquerque Journal, Su Casa Magazine, and the Denver Gazette. “Journalism has the power to connect people with issues that matter and with the ways they can effect change,” says Lorenz. “I’m honored to participate in such work.”
Madeline Herman (pictured) hails from tiny Ophir, Colorado, population 300, graduated from Telluride High School, and is attending Colorado College. Her winning entry, “Among the Cherry Blossoms,” explores mother-daughter relationships and LGBTQ sexuality. “I have always had the desire to create worlds and create realities different from my own,” says Herman. “I guess it's a form of escapism and a way I get to explore my imagination.”
Born in Moscow, Kristina Ten, an MFA candidate at the University of Colorado Boulder, writes about experiences of home, belonging, and borders—between people, between places, and between the realms of the fantastical and the real. Ten’s stories have appeared in Lightspeed, Split Lip, Weird Horror, and Diabolical Plots.
Born into extreme poverty in Kampala, Uganda, Jesca Gilbert and her mom begged on the street until she was orphaned and went to live in a home for street kids founded by a Colorado documentary film maker. Gilbert moved to Indonesia, became a gymnast, and ultimately enrolled at Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch, where she was elected Sophomore Class President and won Poetry Out Loud, a competition sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. She is attending Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.
Poet Annie Cao from Prospect Ridge High School in Broomfield has been published in literary journals such as The Kenyon Review, Diode Poetry Journal, Up the Staircase Quarterly, Hunger Mountain, and The Apprentice Writer. Cao frequently shines light on the experiences of women and discusses the themes of identity and challenge that surround girlhood. She will be attending Princeton University in the fall.
Founded in 1898, Denver Woman’s Press Club supports professional communicators in journalism, public relations, internet communications, nonfiction, and creative writing. The club awards scholarships every year to support and encourage aspiring young communicators.
