Winners Selected in Quarry Farm Creative Writing Contest
Elmira, NY (05/29/2018) — Winners have been selected for the Quarry Farm tile fireplace creative writing contest sponsored by the Center for Mark Twain Studies (CMTS). Four area students in grades 2-6, were selected for their creative writings on explore Mark Twain's legacy in Elmira and the Southern Tier: Tessa Baker, Finn Academy; Alexa Fairbanks, Fassett Elementary; Mayla Falank, Cohen Elementary; and Alana Heath, Hendy Elementary.
Mark Twain often encouraged his children to create and tell their own stories based off the tiles adorning the parlor fireplace. The 24 tiles around the fireplace depict fables written by ancient Greek storyteller, Aesop, who utilized animals, such as crows, snakes, mice, and foxes, to illustrate moral lessons.
The winning students and their classmates will receive a personal tour inside Quarry Farm, something that is normally only open to Twain Scholars. In addition, the winning students will be able to read their story next to the Quarry Farm parlor fireplace, tour Quarry Farm, and enjoy Mark Twain's favorite dessert: gingerbread, vanilla ice cream, and lemonade.
About the Center for Mark Twain Studies
The Elmira College Center for Mark Twain Studies was founded in January 1983 with the gift of Quarry Farm to Elmira College by Jervis Langdon, the great-grand-nephew of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. The Center offers distinctive programs to foster and support Mark Twain scholarship and to strengthen the teaching of Mark Twain at all academic levels. The Center serves the Elmira College community and regional, national, and international students and scholars of Mark Twain.
Elmira College is a private, coeducational, Phi Beta Kappa college founded in 1855, located in Elmira, New York. The College has an undergraduate enrollment of approximately 1,200 full-time mostly-residential students, and is the guardian of Quarry Farm where Mark Twain wrote many of his most iconic novels and is today a research center for visiting Twain scholars. The College has been ranked as a Best College in the Northeast by The Princeton Review and a Top Tier national liberal arts college by U.S. News & World Report, which also ranked Elmira College as a leading college, nationally, for student internships. The Philadelphia Inquirer cited the Elmira College campus as 'picture postcard perfect.'
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The student winners of the Quarry Farm creative writing contest will receive a personal tour inside Quarry Farm, have a chance to read their story next to the parlor fireplace, and tour the grounds at Quarry Farm.
Elmira College
Jennifer L. Swain, 607-735-1894, jswain@elmira.eduShare this Story
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