WHEN SIERRA MARCUM saw an ad in The News-Gazette for its 2008 Readers Writing Contest, she chose to submit a story about her experiences in Limerick, Ireland, in a tiny parking garage in a gigantic van.

Little did she think that such a frustrating experience would get her story published and win her a $150 Borders gift certificate.

It all started last July, when Marcum, now a junior, spent a couple weeks traipsing around Ireland and England with her family. They went to London, Portsmouth, Gosport, the Isle of Wight, Dublin, and most importantly, Limerick.

“We had a hell of a time finding our guest house, dragging our suitcases up and down this badly marked street — that part would have been funny if we hadn’t been so tired and frustrated,” Marcum said.

And how did that factor into the winning story?

“It was originally an assignment for creative writing,” said Marcum. “I had to write a creative nonfiction piece starring or at least co-starring myself, and so I asked my family what I should write about. My dad suggested I write about how we got stuck in that parking garage, and I thought it would be fun to write. The story’s a whole lot funnier now than it was when it was happening.”

And the judges agreed, awarding her story, “Limerick in the Behemoth Volkswagen,” first place in the student division earlier this year.

The Making of a Writer

In her childhood, Marcum spent much of her time reading, amassing a huge vocabulary along the way.

“We used to read bedtime stories a lot when I was little, and then I started reading all the time for fun,” the White Heath resident recalled. “I would read books like Harry Potter, and then my mom would read them out loud to both my sister and me as bedtime stories.”

Over the years, Marcum progressed from reading stories to writing them, with encouragement at home and at school.

“Writing was a great outlet for [my vocabulary]. I enjoyed stories so much that I wanted to try writing them myself.”

She’s been doing it ever since. Marcum submitted a poem to the 2005 Unique, titled “Dust.” Although she didn’t send anything in last year, she decided to turn in a large amount of work this year, including two short stories, two poems, and a collage made of wrappers and tickets and such that she collected while in England and Ireland.

However, Marcum hopes to expand her writing beyond poetry and prose. Her experience as an extra in the spring play, “Much Ado About Nothing,” has inspired her to write a play for next year’s StudProd.

“I thought about trying to parody a typical StudProd play, but that’s rather a tall order, so I’m not sure if I’ll try that idea,” she said.

Her creative writing teacher, Elizabeth Majerus, isn't surprised that Marcum wants to try her hand at different genres.

“She is a very committed writer, which I appreciate,” Majerus said. “She has a lot of varied styles that she works with, but she does excellent work in all those styles, which is always great to see. Sometimes a writer feels comfortable in one area but doesn’t like to branch out. She really is willing to experiment with different styles, and she just has a very kind of commanding, confident writing voice, which I think helps her succeed as a creative writer.”

Looking to the Future

If Marcum does write the play, it could come in useful for her plans later in life. She hopes to become a film director, a screenwriter for films or TV, or a novelist.

She draws her inspirations from real life — from the people she meets, the places she goes to, the situations she encounters — and this is something that makes her style of writing particularly distinct and interesting.

“I like to write most things, although the more creative I get to be, the more I enjoy it,” she explained. “I don’t really enjoy journalism and the like as much, because there you’re not allowed to twist it as much. I also get inspiration from conversations I observe or from discussions I’m a part of …. All the reading I do also contributes quite a lot.”

In addition, she’s strongly influenced by her family and has been since she listened to fairy tales at bedtime.

“We’re pretty close. We’re all really stubborn, so we end up having informal debates on a fairly regular basis — about everything from stocks to Greek mythology. My family’s quite supportive of me, and they always push me to do things that I don’t think I can do.”

But as for what made her writing stand out amongst the competition, she’s not quite sure.

“My writing is mine, and I’m not likely to be the best judge of what makes it good or not. You tell me.”

Whatever it is that makes people sit up and take note of her work — a strong and clear authorial voice, an artful sense of style — Marcum has it in abundance.

“She’s got a lot of talent,” Majerus said. “Writing is like any art. You have to put time into honing your skills. I always encourage my students to develop a daily writing practice, and I think Sierra is the kind of writer who, if she committed herself to writing on a daily basis and really making a commitment of her time and energy toward her writing, could go far.”

Quick facts about Sierra Marcum

• Favorite classes: Creative writing, history, English
• Favorite food: Dark chocolate. Really good, really dark chocolate
• Favorite color combination: Red-orange and turquoise
• If you could choose a mascot for Uni, what would it be? Gargoyle. No one knows what an Illinek should look like
• Favorite movie: Impossible question. I have many, and not enough
• Favorite actor/actress: Matthew Perry, maybe
• Favorite book: Again, impossible question. I have many, and not enough
• Favorite sport:Billiards
• Favorite Uni tradition: Lounge hands
• If you could live anywhere in the world: England or NYC