The Center for Bioethics and Humanities at Upstate hosts the 27th annual Dearing Writing Awards Ceremony from 4 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 24 in the Medical Alumni Auditorium at  Weiskotten Hall, 766 Irving Ave. The event coincides with National Poetry Month.

This year‘s prose winners in the faculty/employee category are: Ann Botash, MD for her short story, “Whistling Willy‘s Love Song” and nurse Lisa DeWilde for her short story, “Mitch.”  Student winners are Timothy Vo, a fourth-year medical student, for his essay, “Bottle Rocket” and fourth-year medical student Sephora Germain for her piece, “The Funeral.”

In poetry, Joan Cofrancesco won for “Waiting Room” in the faculty/employee category, as did Ruth McKay for her poem, “An Everyday Thing.”  First year medical student Danielle Schenone won for her poem, “More Than the Sum,” as did graduate student Makandiwana Shoniwa for her poem, “Homecoming.”

Winning entries will appear in the next issue of Upstate‘s literary and visual arts journal, The Healing Muse, due out this October.