Big Sandy Community and Technical College English lecturer Shawna Rodenberg was recently named a recipient of the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers Award for 2017. Rodenberg began her career at Big Sandy in August 2015. She said she feels overwhelmed and grateful to have this degree of support for her writing. The award, which is given annually to six women writers who demonstrate excellence and promise in the early stages of their careers, was founded by Rona Jaffe in 1995. It is the only national literary awards program of its kind dedicated to supporting women writers exclusively.