ESCANABA — Bay College sophomore Fiona MacFadyen’s poem recently earned her first-place honors in a statewide writing competition. Her poem, “Collateral,” placed first in Bay College’s local writing contest and was forwarded along with five other local entries to the 2023 Liberal Arts Network for Development (LAND) annual creative writing competition. The contest is open to students enrolled in a credit class at any public two-year college in Michigan during 2023. All submissions must be sponsored by a faculty member. MacFadyen’s poem was sponsored by Bay College English Instructor Nanci Love.

Judges noted that the winning poem provides readers “a complex physical and emotional experience in language that is personal to the writer, yet accessible to the reader.” They added, “This is a solid poem about denial, resistance, and acceptance. No matter the actual experience the narrator has, he/she/they uses accessible language that immediately draws in the reader. What is shared here is not the actual experience, but common ‘feelings’ that we all share in spite of our individual experiences.”

The daughter of Bill MacFadyen and Mary Conneely-MacFadyen, Fiona went to high school at North Dickinson County School in Felch, Michigan. She is currently pursuing an associate’s degree in Liberal Arts at Bay College. Her immediate post-graduation plans are to do some traveling.

She can’t remember what first sparked her interest in poetry. “As far back as I can remember, I was writing songs or little books that I drew pictures in,” says MacFadyen. Prior to completing her schooling in the Upper Peninsula, MacFadyen attended school in Chicago where she participated in poetry club after school for three years. She said, “I have always had deep feelings and just wrote them down. The older I get, the more complex that life, and my feelings, get.” MacFadyen said she especially appreciates the poetry of Ezra Pound and Rupi Kaur.

MacFadyen will receive a certificate and cash award and is invited to attend the virtual LAND Conference which will be held February 21 – 23, 2024, where her work will be recognized along with other state winners.