Interlochen Arts Academy: Lauren Mandel of West Windsor was awarded a national silver medal art and writing award from the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers for her poetry collection of “Runaways” poems. She receives the award at a ceremony at Carnegie Hall this month.##M:[more]##
A former student at High School North, she recently graduated from Interlochen with a concentration in creative writing. Last year she received a gold key in the Scholastic competition. This year she received four regional awards for her poetry.
A writer and poet since fourth grade, Mandel frequently presents her poetry at the West Windsor Arts Council poetry readings. Her writings have been published in the Interlochen Review and Red Wheelbarrow magazines and a performance of her classically based poem, “Daphnis and Chloe: The Destined Two” was selected for the Interlochen Festival series this spring.
“Lauren’s poems have a way of being both gritty and romantic,” says Anne-Marie Oomen, an author and Mandel’s creative writing advisor at Interlochen. “She sees details that are both ordinary and highly symbolic and tries to develop them into something that evokes the sensuality of experience through her language.”
“As if with paint, I’m currently experimenting with complementary colors in writing,” says Mandel. “I’ve found it necessary to admire the simple while exploring the complex, and to write lyrically and cynically all at once.” Mandel is working on a collection of narrative poems, “The Four Books of Becoming, an Original Mythology,” which she started as an independent project at Interlochen.
Mandel will attend Washington College in the fall and she intends to minor in creative writing.
The Pennington School; Victoria M. Armstrong of West Windsor graduated from the middle school. Galen M. Ogg of West Windsor, a seventh grade student, received an award for being first in scholarship.
