At the Center for the Arts’ (CFA) First Friday event on October 3 at Lake Sunapee Bank’s Main Street branch in New London, the winners of the “Circles and Spheres” writing contest were announced. Writers were challenged to respond to a series of photographs by Larry Chase of Andover called “Circles and Spheres.” This collection has been available for public viewing at the Lake Sunapee Bank. Each writer was asked to create a one-page response in prose or poetry to an individual photo or to the entire collection.

Joan Doran, chairman of CFA’s Literary Arts Guild, announced the winners. Cara Losier Chanoine from Manchester is the first-prize winner of the CFA Fall 2014 Writing Contest. Her poem, Aftermath of Jubilation, was inspired by photograph #10. The second-prize winner is Sherrill Atherton Crow from Londonderry. Her poem, Perceptions, responded to the collection as a whole.

The contest judge was Laurie Zimmerman of Andover, who is the former poetry editor of Radix Magazine. She is currently a teacher at Procter Academy and recently published a well-received collection of poetry, Bright Exit.

Many thanks to those who supported this creative writing event, including Dianalee Velie, who was the contest coordinator; the folks at the Tatewell Gallery, who very kindly matted and framed the LB Chase collection; to Jim Sims, professional guitarist and vocalist, who provided wonderful music during the evening; and to an anonymous family foundation for funding the program booklet.

A special thank-you goes to Kaitlin Covel, manager of the Main Street branch of Lake Sunapee Bank, who has been so welcoming and supportive of CFA. She recently announced that Lake Sunapee Bank is now an official Center for the Arts Micro Gallery, continuing the ongoing Lake Sunapee Bank tradition of supporting the arts in the community.