REVIEWS

Judges' Comments: Down-to-earth, humorous, self-deprecating, and truthful. This column is well written and interesting. It made me laugh out loud and confirms the belief that everyone makes mistakes with babies.- FIRST PLACE, 2017, South Carolina Press Association, Column Writing: Lowcountry Weekly, Laura Packard, "Motherhood: It's What I've Learned by Accident"

Judges' Comments: I'm neither a mother nor a parent but by my estimation, you hit every note in the lengthy dirge that is parenting and did it with style. Great job!- FIRST PLACE, 2016, South Carolina Press Association, Column Writing: Lowcountry Weekly, Laura Packard, "Middle School: A Play"

Ellen Hemphill, Associate Professor, Duke University in Theater Studies- "This poem captures so much of what is 'modern' love with the interference of the need to always be in touch with the masses."- Honorable Mention in the 2017 Porter Fleming Literary Competition in Poetry, Laura Packard, "Cellular Romance"

"While Laura's writing largely consists of essays, she exemplifies a poetic backbone and tongue- from the strength of her extended metaphor, affective imagery and feminine voice to her use of internal rhyme and laconic culmination-that parallels the celebrated verse of great poetess' such as Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton. Just like the works of these female forces, realism, emotion and authenticity "Seems all wrapped up in a neat and tiny" poem, not an essay, in Laura's "The Wedding Gown of Marriage." Needless to say, reading contemporary poetry that packs this kind of punch is both rare and inexplicably exciting, and that is why it must be recognized." -Rachel Eber, Publisher. 2012 Grand Prize Winner, Laura Packard, "The Wedding Gown of Marriage"