The 13th Annual Gerald F. Berlin Prize for Creative Writing Award Ceremony and Readings will take place at UMass Medical School on Wednesday, April 26, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Desserts will be provided for the bring-your-own brown bag lunch, which will be held in Amphitheater III.
The awards are given to medical and nursing students and residents for original prose and poetry about what it means and how it feels to be a health care provider. They were established by poet, psychiatrist and senior affiliate in psychiatry Richard Berlin, MD, for whose father the awards are named. Works by medical students, residents, fellows, graduate students and nursing students in programs based at UMass Medical School, Berkshire Medical Center and Worcester Medical Center are eligible for submission.
The grand prize winner receives a cash award of $100 and publication in Worcester Medicine, The Berkshire Medical Journal and Streams of Consciousness. The second and third prize winners will also have their work published in Streams of Consciousness.
Winners of the top three prizes and honorable mentions will read excerpts from their work at the award ceremony.
Ten writers are receiving awards this year:
First Place
Laurel Dezieck, MD, for Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis
Second Place
Supreetha Gubbala, SOM ’19, for White Coats and Black Magic
Third Place (tied)
Anna Chon, MD, for Finding Light Amidst Darkness
Honorable Mentions
Eleanor Tomczyk, MD, for You are my sunshine
Supreetha Gubbala, SOM ’19, for Leon
Tiana Ingersoll, RN, GSN ’19, for Dim
Yevin Roh, SOM ’18, for SIGECAPS
Tiffany Chen, SOM ’19, for Sonrisa
Michelle Silver, SOM ’19, for The Process of Dying: A Reflective Essay and Poem
Jeffrey Brady, SOM ’17, for Exposed to Uncertainty
The event is sponsored by Dr. Berlin; the Humanities in Medicine Committee of the Lamar Soutter Library; and the Liaison Committee for Interprofessional Curriculum of the Office of Educational Affairs.
All members of the UMMS and UMass Memorial community are invited to attend. Learn more about the Gerald F. Berlin Creative Writing Awards, and read the work of previous winners here.
