Inspiration can come from anywhere. For Lillian Giddings and Madeline Riske, it came from the majestic mountains and calming beaches of Ireland.
From March 19-22, the Sigma Tau Delta convention was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Sigma Tau Delta is a national English honors society that holds an annual convention to celebrate experiences and ideas and recognizes individuals for their achievements. Giddings and Riske each received Isabel Sparks President’s Awards at this convention for the work they did while studying abroad in Ireland.
Giddings, a third-year student from Independence, Iowa, is pursuing a publishing track in English and creative writing at the University of Iowa with a minor in public policy. She writes and publishes in the industry through her involvement with two campus literary magazines as the events coordinator for Earthwords and managing editor for Catharsis, which she also co-founded.
“I’m particularly fascinated by the genre of creative nonfiction and how versatile and expansive the forms of this genre can be,” Giddings said.
Riske and Giddings traveled to Ireland last summer as part of a study abroad program focused on creative writing. Their time in Dublin and Belfast inspired their award-winning works.
“I was just interested in the ways that humans and animals interact. It would be weird to have a city setting and still see foxes or seagulls. People hate on seagulls, but I’m so interested in these guys,” Riske said.
Riske is a third-year student studying English and creative writing on the publishing track. She came to Iowa for the writing program, which has been a major part of her life at the university.
When she’s not committing time to her role as a clerk for the Office of the Vice President for Student Life, Riske also works on the staff of Catharsis and Earthwords.
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Riske’s piece, titled “A Bestiary for What We Bury,” is a compilation of real and mythical creatures. The piece focuses on both humans and animals and the way they literally and figuratively bury things. The political conflict in Ireland also fueled Riske’s imagination.
“I was interested in the ways humans interact in our day-to-day lives and our behavior around conflict or grief. How does that make us similar to animals? How does that make us different?” Riske said.
Giddings’ pieces started a slightly different way: A class prompt turned into an award-winning nonfiction piece. She mixed in humor to make the deep moments of her profound piece hit harder.
“It was a very open-ended prompt. Immersive Writing was the title of the course I was in, so our prompt was to write a piece that would immerse the reader, and we could take that however we wanted,” Giddings said.
The Isabel Sparks President’s Awards gave both Giddings and Riske validation that they said they had never acquired. To have their pieces selected among a few hundred people’s has inspired them to continue writing.
“It definitely influenced how I want to continue with my writing. It was an impactful experience. It felt validating to me to have people sit and listen and then ask questions and be interested in my work,” Giddings said.