2015 Dorothy Clarke Wilson Peace Writing Prize Awarded
A first-year elementary education major at the University of Maine has been awarded this year’s Dorothy Clarke Wilson Peace Writing Prize for his essay, “Reconciliation.”
John Dennis of Bangor, Maine, will receive $500 for his award-winning essay. He will read his essay and be presented with his award at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Breakfast, Jan. 19 at the University of Maine.
Dennis is a storyteller and musician. Before joining the UMaine community, he served as cultural director for the Aroostook Band of Micmacs.
This year, the peace writing competition, sponsored by the Wilson Center in Orono and open to all UMaine students, focused on the topic of forgiveness and reconciliation as defined by Desmond Tutu. The contest is named in honor of Dorothy Clarke Wilson, an internationally known peacemaker who was committed to writing on social issues and world peace.
Honorable mentions this year by author and essay: Michael Bailey, “The Celebrated Genocide: Manifest Destiny and Native Peoples”; Berkay Payal, “Road to ‘Paradiso’: Forgiveness”; John Peters, “In the Eye of a Storm”; Olga Remesha, “My Tribe Surrounded by My Heart”; and Anna Weigang, “Metamorphosis.”
The Dorothy Clarke Wilson Peace Writing Prize is awarded each year by the Wilson Center, whose mission is to offer opportunities for spiritual growth to UMaine students, to work for social justice and to honor diversity. More information about the Wilson Center is online.