Roanoke Valley Pen Women member and Roanoke Star Sentinel contributor Gail Lambert has won Honorable Mention in the 2010 Leapfrog Fiction Contest. Her story, “Aesop: The Storyteller,” is set in the ancient Greek world of slaves, sailors, merchants, wars and gods — all of which contribute to the slave boy Aesop’s eventual fame as the most celebrated storyteller in all of history.
The Roanoke Pen Women is one of about 250 branches in the national organization, which is 100-plus years old. They are involved in numerous projects throughout the year, often working with children. They also teach the art of writing to all age groups in schools.
The organization’s members are women who demonstrate talent in arts, letters and music composition.
Lambert holds a Graduate Degree in Children’s Literature from Hollins University as well as a BA and a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies. She was a frequent reviewer for Best Sellers with a review included in Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol. 30, as well as a Contributing Writer and Editor of “Notable Women West of the Blue Ridge, 1850 – 1950” published by the Historical Society of Western Virginia, 2007. She authored an essay for National Public Radio in 2009, is an adjunct Latin teacher at Community High School, and is a regularly published freelance writer in Virginia.
The Leapfrog Press awards were given to only twenty winning manuscripts chosen out of 448 adult fiction entries, and seven winners out of 153 middle grade / YA manuscripts. Manuscripts were judged “blind” (judges did not know the names of the authors or any other information). Manuscripts were submitted from 22 countries, giving the judges a wide diversity of style and theme. Bringing this award home to Roanoke is a delight for both Lambert and her Roanoke Valley Pen Women’s group.
See http://roanokepenwomen.blogspot.com and http://www.leapfrogpress.com/contest.htm for more information.
