Neshaminy literary contest winners to be announced

The winners of the recent Neshaminy journal’s literary contest will be announced at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 1, at the Doylestown Historical Society, 56 S. Main St.

The contest was co-sponsored by the DHS and the Bucks County Writers Workshop to herald the publication of the new literary magazine. Neshaminy’s inaugural issue is expected to be published in time for the second annual Bucks County Bookfest, Oct. 12-13.

A nine-member advisory panel headed by Bill Stieg, former editor of a nationally known health magazine, selected the winners and runners-up in the contest. Stieg notes that there were razor-thin margins between the top-placing entries. Nathan Halter of the Doylestown and Lahaska Bookshops is expected to make the presentations on Aug. 1. Winners will share $500 in cash prizes.

Neshaminy, named for the creek that flows more than 40 miles through the center of Bucks County, will focus on exploring through imaginative ways the county’s historical legacy in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, memoir, and art.

The journal’s managing editor, David Updike, said, “History and fiction have always worked in tandem to keep our shared past alive in the present. In fact, the strict segregation between the two is a relatively modern development.

“There are rich veins of archival material to be mined here, including the collection of the Doylestown Historical Society, in which are buried many stories yearning to be told.Through fiction, we can also bring to life those whose voices are not adequately represented in our received history, including women, people of color, and Native Americans.”

Stu Abramson, president of the Doylestown Historical Society, says the journal’s publication is the result of months of planning between himself and Don Swaim, who heads the Bucks County Writers Workshop.

“Both groups are nonprofit and have each been in existence for over 20 years,” Abramson said. “That stability together with the well-earned positive reputations of both organizations provided a credibility and optimism to this project as it began to take shape.”

Rounding out the Neshaminy staff are Bill Donahue, associate managing editor, illustrator Pat Achilles, and photographer Ron Moran. The designer is Rebecca Quinn, senior graphic designer at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The inaugural issue will also include one or more scholastic submissions from students in the Central Bucks School District. Neshaminy, to be published twice yearly, will be distributed by local book shops and museums as well as through Amazon in both print and digital editions.