Shorter College student wins first place in the 2009 Southern Women’s Writers Conference

September 24 - Shorter College senior Ashley-Grace Ramocan won first place in the 2009 Southern Women’s Writers Conference student fiction competition. Ramocan, who hails from Canton, read her winning entry in front of a crowd gathered inside Barnwell Chapel on the Berry College campus Thursday afternoon. Berry is the host institution for the annual conference.

Ramocan’s story, “A Taste of Amaranth” was selected by contest judges for its originality of voice, writing clarity and depth of insight. Composed in just one evening, Ramocan’s work focuses on the loss of a loved one and the ensuing depression that affects her story’s main character. “My story is not real, it’s fiction, but it deals with a subject that thousands and thousands of people in the United States live with every day. I have a heart for those people and it means a lot to me that my story is reaching others.”

The idea for her story came to her while filming a basketball game at work one evening. Ramocan works as an intern in the New Media Department at the Rome News- Tribune. “I don’t know why, but I just had this image and I knew I had to write about it,” Ramocan said during the reading at Barnwell Chapel.

Ashely-Grace Ramocan at Barnwell Chapel

Writing and creating seems to be a way of life for Ramocan, as she is not only a Dean’s List student at Shorter, but is also the editor-in-chief and sports editor of The Periscope, Shorter’s award-winning campus newspaper and serves as editor-in-chief of Shorter’s literary magazine, The Chimes.

Ramocan will receive $50 check for writing the winning entry for the contest.


Founded in 1873, Shorter College is a Christian college committed to excellence in education. Since 2003, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Shorter among the South’s best baccalaureate colleges. The college offers bachelor’s degrees in 48 major areas, master’s level and undergraduate degree programs for working adults, online courses, and a vibrant intercollegiate athletic program. Shorter will transition to university status June 1, 2010. For more information, visit www.shorter.edu.

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