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Illinois Woman’s Press Association
Chicago, Illinois
www.iwpa.org

Chicago – March 6, 2019 – The Illinois Woman’s Press Association (IWPA), an affiliate of the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW), honors the best professional journalists, writers and communicators in the state through the annual Mate E. Palmer Professional Communications Contest.

Communicators may enter work in any of over 64 categories and subcategories. Examples include Writing, Editing and Page Design, Photography and Graphics, Radio/Television, Web and Social Media, Advertising, Public Relations/Promotion/Publicity, PR Materials, Speeches, Collegiate/Education and Books and Creative Writing.

This year, 27 first-place entries were eligible to move on to the NFPW contest. IWPA wishes theses talents the best of luck:

Tracy Ahrens

  • Creative Verse – Single Poem
  • Blogs – Personal

Eve Becker

  • Feature Story – Magazine, newsletter or other non-newspaper publication

Joshua Friedberg

  •  Specialty Articles – Personal essay

Linda Gartz

  • Nonfiction Books for Adult Readers – Biography

Suzanne Hanney

  • Specialty Articles – History
  • Specialty Articles – Social Issues
  •  Publications regularly edited by entrant -Magazine/Magpaper

Tim Libretti

  • Specialty Articles –  Arts and entertainment (enter reviews in 10N)
  • Specialty Articles – Business
  • Specialty Articles – Government or Politics
  • Specialty Articles – Reviews (any subject, must express personal opinion)

Margot McMahon

  • Public Service

Nikoleta Morales

  • Personality profile – More than 500 words
  • Personal Website
  • News or Feature Release – Single Release

Linda Mulholland

  • Specialty Article – Physical health (fitness, diet, clean lifestyle)

E. Napoletano

  • Feature Story – Online Publication

Randy Richardson

  • Specialty Articles – Sports

Wendy Rosen

  • Photographer-writer

Becky Sarwate

  • Editorial/Opinion – Online Publication
  • Columns – Personal Opinion (bylined, not editorial)
  • Website Edited/Managed by Entrant – Nonprofit, Government, Educational

Erin Sullivan

  • Page Design – Magazine or Newsletter

Patricia Szpekowski

  • Personality profile – 500 words or fewer
  • Specialty Articles – Religion

Mary Wagner

  • Blogs – Corporate or For Profit

Jamie Wendt

  • Creative Verse – Book of Poetry – Written by entrant published in book form including E-books

Marianne Wolf-Astrauskas

  • Speech

IWPA is also proud to present the Silver Feather Award to the communicator achieving the highest number of points among contest entrants. The 2019 Silver Feather Award winner is Tim Libretti who earned four 1st place awards, four 2nd place awards, and two 3rd place awards.

“Congratulations to Tim Libretti on his third consecutive Silver Feather Award,” said IWPA President Cora Weisenberger. “Tim is a prolific writer who has the enviable ability to write in a variety of styles, appealing to a wide range of audiences. IWPA thanks him for participating in the Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, and for helping to perpetuate the love of the written word.”

IWPA awards each state 1st, 2nd, 3rd or Honorable Mention winner with a certificate which will be bestowed during the 78th Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest Awards Luncheon. For more information, contact Ana Mendez, Contest Chair, at mendez.school@gmail.com.