The Creative Writing Club of Hawthorne High School celebrated the publication of the school’s literary magazine, The Empyrean, with a party at Well Read New & Used Books on Lafayette Ave. on June 4, 2013. Club members, along with family and friends, enjoyed readings, prizes, and refreshments.

The highlight of the evening was the announcement of this year’s winners of the Annual Well Read Short Story Contest, judged by four professional authors. First prize of $100 was awarded to Abby Provencher for her story “No Regrets.” Second prize of a $50 gift card to Well Read bookstore was awarded to Evan Voss for his story “The Last Man on Earth.” These prizes were presented to the winners by HHS alum Mike Verdon and Cecilia Schiavo who were last year’s recipients of these awards. The winning students read their stories aloud, followed by a special acknowledgement and thank you to author and contest judge, Karen Dellecava, who attended the event.

Several club members, Nina Nadirashvili, Natalie Tousignant, Ashley Hidalgo, and Danielle Maggiore, entertained the guests with poetry readings from the magazine.

While enjoying refreshments supplied by club members, all in attendance browsed through past issues (dating to 1973) of The Empyrean and enjoyed looking back through the years in the club scrapbook.

Club advisor, Theresa DiGeronimo, said that she enjoys having the unveiling of The Empyrean at the local independent bookstore each year. “This is a great environment among classic and contemporary literature for club members to mingle with family and friends and share our own creative writings. I hope to continue our relationship with Well Read for many years to come.”