SKCTC Professor Hughes attends Christian Writers Conference

SKCTC Professor Hughes attends Christian Writers Conference

Carlton W. Hughes, a professor at Southeast Kentucky Community amp; Technical College, attended recently the annul Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference where he won first place in the Dramas/Plays/Scripts category.

The event was held at the Ridgecrest Conference Center near Asheville, N.C. and according to Hughes, a veteran of 21 years of teaching at SKCTC, is the premier training and networking event for both seasoned and aspiring writers as well as speakers who specialize in Christian themes.

The four-day event allowed Hughes the opportunity to interact with editors, agents, professional writers and readers, all offering outstanding workshops and classes in an array of creative categories.

Honored for a first place award, his winning effort was for the Christmas play Where is He? a work he wrote for his church. The setting for the piece, which is a play within a play, deals with a harried church play director who discovers that the Baby Jesus doll is missing from the set of the play. The children involved in the play then begin to question Gods role in current events such as wars, earth quakes and famine, etc.

During a quiet moment the director nods off and awakens to a trio of child detectives trying to find Jesus.

Hughes was one of only three men to win an award at the conference among the almost 40 given and the only male to win a first place award.

Additionally, he has had an essay, based on an encounter with a SKCTC student featured in the book Simple Little Words published by David C. Cook Communications and co-edited by Michelle Cox, a mentor with Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild and faculty member at Blue Ridge.

Hughes has also been published in other publications including Kentucky Monthly and Youth and Christian Education Leadership.

A native of Jenkins, Hughes and his wife, Cathy, reside in Cumberland. They are the parents of sons Noah and Ethan.