Kenneth and Elissa May Plattner established the Denny C. Plattner Awards in 1995 to honor their late son, Denny, and his love for writing. Each year since, judges have selected the best pieces to appear that year in Appalachian Heritage. First place winners each receive $200.00, and all winners receive bookracks from Berea College Crafts.
Fiction
Judged by Darnell Arnoult
Winner: Mildred Haun, “The Spot on the Sofa” (Spring)
Honorable Mention:
Paul Prather, "Today, I Will Be a Nice Guy” (Fall);
Crystal Wilkinson, “Third Sunday Dinner on the Grounds, July 1976” (Summer)
Poetry
Judged by Jeff Daniel Marion
Winner: Crystal Wilkinson, “Terrain” (Summer)
Honorable Mention:
Frank X Walker, “True Black” (Summer);
Katherine Smith, “Shipment” (Spring)\
Non-Fiction
Judged by Joyce Brown
Winners:
Virginia C. Fowler, “Nikki Giovanni’s Appalachian Ties” (Summer);
Jeff Biggers, “The Pride and Prejudices of Don West” (Fall)
Honorable Mention:
William H. Turner, “This Side of The Mountain”(Summer);
Billy Edd Wheeler, “Sometimes Life, Like Love, Is Hotter Than a Pepper Sprout” (Winter)