The City of Ventura is pleased to announce the winners of the 2nd annual “Art Tales” creative writing contest. Short stories and poems were submitted in both youth and adult categories that were inspired by one of the five Municipal Art Collection works of art which is currently on exhibit in the E.P. Foster Library.
More than 80 entries from Fillmore, Ojai, Oxnard, Santa Paula and Ventura were judged by a committee of professionals. Out of the 80 entries submitted, 7 are from Fillmore. Every April is National Poetry month and the April ended with its award ceremony at E.P. Foster Library in Ventura on April 28th to honor the winners.

They were:
Short Story – Youth
Sofia Felino, 1st Place, “The Synesthete”
Jocelyn Munoz, 2nd Place, “Carwash on the Avenue”
Alejandra Contreras, Honorable Mention, “Tony's Pizza”
Lupita Perez, Honorable Mention, “Tony's Pizza”
Daniel Vargas, Honorable Mention, “Tony's Pizza”
Poem – Youth
Christopher Medrano, 1st Place, “Carwash on the Avenue”
Misael Ponce, 2nd Place, “Large Ball-Fagan Canyon”
Naythan A. Martinez, Honorable Mention, “Joad Family Applying for Relief”
Matthew Hammond, Honorable Mention, “Sally Weber”
Hannah Wishart, Honorable Mention, “Large Ball-Fagan Canyon”
Short Story – Adult
Donald Sommerfield, 1st Place, “Late Night Coffee”
Sean Daly, 2nd Place, “You Stand like a fool Watching”
Sharon Wilson, Honorable Mention, “Eulogy in a Rainbow”
Poem – Adult
Dominga Zambrano,1st Place, “American Dreams”
Maggie Westland, 2nd Place, “Hosana”
Howard Smith, Honorable Mention, “Gift of a Ball”
The mayor of Ventura honored all winning writers along with Head Librarian, Mary Stewart and Denise Sindelar, Interim Cultural Affairs Manager for the City of Ventura. All judges evaluated the work on its creativity and were very impressed with the number of high quality submissions. 3 of the 7 winners that were able to come received received a bound edition of the winning entries, a certificate, a journal and a cash prize. Their Teacher, Mrs. Fitzgerald showed her support by coming to the ceremony and it was because of her that the winners were acknowledged because she submitted her students' works to several of the contests given.