Literary Awards – Graphos

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Help Us Reboot Graphos!

It’s been a hot minute since anything posted on this site. That’s because life has gotten its hooks into us and we’ve let the important things — like poetry, fiction, artwork, writing about writing, personal essays, and general expression imagination magic — slip away. You can help us. How? You can submit your artwork and Read More ...

Submission Guidelines

We invite you to share your creative expressions with us — poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, critical essay, drawings, paintings, photographs — so that we can publish them here. Contact Dr. Laurie MacDiarmid via email. Artists may submit: Upload each submission separately. (With the exception of poetry: If you’re submitting more than one poem, create a Read More ...

About Graphos

Graphos, a creative space maintained by and for undergraduate artists, is spearheaded by students at St. Norbert College, a Catholic, Norbertine, liberal arts institution founded in 1898 on the banks of the Fox River, in De Pere, Wisconsin. Some form of Graphos has been in existence since 1990, staffed by students and faculty, serving the Read More ...

Ode to a Casket/Abigail Best

Posted onMay 27, 2022June 1, 2022Leave a comment

It wasn’t like the world would come to an end Or like the cob-webbed grandfather clock in the hall would Stop ticking It wasn’t as if his classmates would stop doing their homework Or as if they would give up on the windy, dewey Friday night lights It wasn’t like his parents would stop sharing Read More …

The Hand/Logan Stefl

Posted onMay 27, 2022June 6, 2022Leave a comment

I can still feel the winter breeze on my cheeks. Even though I was bundled from head to toe, The pervasive cold on my face prevented me From feeling an ounce of warmth in my little body. I walked into the ice shack with my dad and brother, And some other who’s since faded from Read More …

The Influence of Scientific Theory on Victorian Era Society/Miranda Holloway

Posted onMay 27, 2022June 12, 2022Leave a comment

The Victorian Era of the late 19th century marked a time of social change, in which advancements throughout multiple sectors of society allowed for reformation of historically stagnant concepts. With this attentiveness to forward progress, non-fiction and scientific literature characterized a challenge to some aspect of contemporary knowledge. Despite the goal of publishing solely objective Read More …

Childhood Speaking to Me/Olivia Augustian

Posted onMay 27, 2022June 1, 2022Leave a comment

You set me down and forgot about me, like a story left on a nightstand: discarded. But the way you left my pages all marked up and dog-eared told me you saw something in me worth coming back to… This poem by Olivia Augustian won 1st Place in our 2022 Literary Awards.

Bird Over Boy: A Queer Reading of “A White Heron”/Anton Maslowski

Posted onMay 27, 2022June 1, 2022Leave a comment

Why does Sylvia save the bird from the hunter? This central question must be at the heart of any thorough examination of Sarah Orne Jewett’s 1886 short story, “A White Heron.” Much can be gleaned from the story when it is viewed through the life of the author — particularly through the devoted relationship Jewett Read More …

They’re in the School/Nora Cardinal

Posted onMay 27, 2022June 2, 2022Leave a comment

Kara walked out of the Physics room with her face still heated. She was shocked that she had been so hostile and felt bad for snapping at Isabella and Brenna. Maybe being feisty towards Jack had opened up a part of her that she had been trying to push into a little box so that Read More …

Fire Burns Cold/Trenton Bebermeier

Posted onMay 18, 2021June 1, 2022Leave a comment

I’m sitting in the back of a taxi, and the driver tells me I’m not allowed to smoke, so a cigarette hangs unlit from my lips while I rest my head against the window. The glass was chilled by the early fall air and it felt nice against my temple. I stare at the back Read More …

Crucifixion/Trenton Bebermeier

Posted onMay 15, 2021June 1, 2022Leave a comment

2nd Place, Poetry, 2021 Literary Awards i woke up on a sidewalk bench once again, covered only in cloth, soggy from the dew. my eyes felt as though they were sinking. the sky was light and sparse with haze. sun beams would dart into my squinting retinas when they flick open. my ragged back is Read More …

Steeping in Stars/Clark Halls

Posted onMay 15, 2021June 1, 2022Leave a comment

2nd Place, Poetry, 2021 Literary Awards The night belies the city skies, And in thine eyes it glistens. From on the moon, down to the stars, A heartbeat and a rhythm. The tree defies the iron ties, Your arms rake up the leaves. From on the hills, down to ravines, A beauty free from thieves. Read More …

Noodle Surprise/Anton Maslowski

Posted onMay 12, 2021June 1, 2022Leave a comment

2nd Place, Creative Prose, 2021 Literary Awards Ding-dong! The sound of the doorbell is squeezed among the sizzle and pop of onions and green peppers sauteing in a pan. “Ry, could you get that?” Janie calls from her place at the stove. The pasta almost seems done, but she needs to check it. She gets Read More …