Four Shelby County students recently were honored as some of the best writers at the University of Montevallo during the school’s fall 2009 Harbert Writing Center Contest.

Alabaster native Barry Cole took home second-place honors in the poetry category with his piece, “My Father’s Canvass.”

In the prose category, Ali Giamalva, of Calera, won second place for her work, “Sex in the Morning,” Montevallo native Matthew Goethe brought home third place for his piece, “Measures,” and Birmingham native Leigh Anne Henry won top honors for her piece “The Revelation.”

All winners in the competition will hold a free public reading at noon Nov. 18 in Comer Hall room 311.

The four competed against about 50 writers who submitted stories in several categories, said Dr. Glenda Conway, a writing instruction professor at the school.

“We just like to celebrate writing,” Conway said. “So many times, writing is seen as a burden in a college setting, so we just wanted to celebrate it as something positive.”