KEYSER, W.Va. -- Sunday Gazette-Mail columnist Karin Fuller, of South Charleston, took home awards in four categories at the annual West Virginia Writers Conference June 8 and 9 at Cedar Lakes Conference Center.

Placing in two categories were Diane Tarantini, of Monongalia County; Murray Edwards, of Texas; Don Narkevic, of Lewis County; and Amber Cummins, of Berkeley County.

Fuller's column "Smell the Coffee" has appeared in the Gazette-Mail's Life & Style section for nearly 15 years and has won several newspaper writing competitions.

The winners in the various categories were:

Emerging writers, prose (70 entries): first place, "Wonders," Charles Lloyd, Cabell County; second place, "Fear," Jennifer Johnston Crow, Wood County; third place, "Holding Memories," Beverly Bisbee, Kanawha County.

Emerging writers, poetry (77 entries): first place, "Appalachian Son," Eric Cummings, Monongalia County; second place, "Helkath-hazzurim," Steven Runfola, Monongalia County; third place, "On Being Shy at Thirty," Amber Cummins, Berkeley County.

Humor (32 entries): first place, "The Bunkers," David Sloan, Monongalia County; second place, "Ask Mr. Mighty Brain -- A Traitor in Our Midst?" Murray Edwards, Texas; third place, "Thirty Minutes or Less," Ceason Ranson, Jackson County.

Science fiction/fantasy/horror (43 entries): first place, "The Messenger," Joshua S. Robinson, Monongalia County; second place, "Transubstantiation," Candice Jordan, Monongalia County; third place, "haveyoubeenthere2," Karin Fuller, Kanawha County.

Appalachian writing (70 entries): first place, "Last Chestnut," Terry W. McNemar, Harrison County; second place, "Black Lungs," Diane Tarantini, Monongalia County; third place, "October Burial After a Catholic Funeral," Rachel Hyde, Wood County.

Pearl S. Buck Award, writing for social change (18 entries): first place, "Lethal Silence," Daleen Berry, Monongalia County; second place, "The Honor in the Attempt," Karen Fuller, Kanawha County; third place, "No Farms, No Food," Maria T. McKelvey, Randolph County.

Nonfiction (66 entries): first place, "The Vigil," Rachel Hyde, Wood County; second place, "Killing Her Softly," Diane Tarantini, Monongalia County; third place, "Can We Get a Cat Now?" Karin Fuller, Kanawha County.

Short story (96 entries): first place, "Saved," Murray Edwards, Texas; second place, "The Flat," Steven J. Conifer, Kanawha County; third place, "Yesterday," Randy L. Morgan, Jefferson County.

Children's books (36 entries): first place, "My Side of the Valley," Karin Fuller, Kanawha County; second place, "Trouble-Maker," Melanie Vickers, Kanawha County; third place, "The Hermitage House Miracle," Malcolm Ater, Jefferson County.

Stage play (16 entries): first place, "Buffalo Gal," Don Narkevic, Lewis County; second place, "Rocking Reality," M. Edward Wyatt, Brooke County; third place, "The Great Algonquin," Linda J. Stockham, Greenbrier County.

Short poetry (105 entries): first place, "Benny," Kimberly D. Honaker, Monongalia County; second place, "Gulls in Snow," Anne Felty, Tucker County; third place, "Streaming Lambs," Susan Johnson, Nicholas County.

Long poetry (108 entries): first place, "Paper Trail," Victoria Rose, Kentucky; second place, "23 Miners Dead at Century," Don Narkevic, Lewis County; third place, "Simple Words are Best at Times Like These," Amber Cummins, Berkeley County.

Book-length prose (48 entries): first place, "Abel, Ohio" Eric Otto, Ohio; second place, "Mountain Girls: A West Virginia Memoir," Stephanie Kadel Taras, Michigan; third place, "Becoming," Georgeann Swiger, Preston County.

The New Mountain Voices student contest winners were:

High school (56 entries): first place, "West Virginia Coal Miner, Jessica Graham, Morgan County; second place, "The Horrors of the DMV," Graham Scott, Upshur County: third place, "Heroes: The Change of Celebrities to People to Teachers," Laura Laratta, Marion County.

Middle school (207 entries): first place, "Out of Breath," Hesther van Kuilenburg, Harrison County; second place, "The Darkest Night," Hayley Wilburn, Monongalia County; third place, "A Future to Look Forward to," Josie Kennedy Rea, Harrison County.

Elementary (55 entries): first place, "Eye(s) Witness," Roula Hammer, Jefferson County; second place, "Diary of a Zombie Kid," Julia Pritt, Putnam County; third place, "Back Seat Driving With Grandma," Amelia R. Anthony, Greenbrier County.