GRAND FORKS, ND / Feb. 20 / -- The start-up media company New Forks, LLC (www.newforks.net) announced today the winners of its Space Writing Contest. Two $3,000 prizes were awarded for the best space journalism pieces submitted in the “published” and “unpublished” categories. New Forks Contest winners Lois Elfman of New York and Nancy Atkinson of Illinois, were notified about their $3,000 prizes on January 30, and each received a check for the winning amount.

“I'm very honored and grateful to have won,” said Nancy Atkinson, winner of the “published” category, “I've been writing about space exploration for several years, and it's a thrill to have your work recognized in this way.”

Lois Elfman, winner of the “unpublished” category said, “Winning this contest has motivated me to keep exploring new and diverse venues in my writing.”

“Our contest was a success and we are delighted with the results,” said David Bullock, President of New Forks, LLC. “The two winning articles grasped onto the idea of what we’re looking for in future New Forks publications. Ms. Elfman and Ms. Atkinson have truly set the tone for what we are trying to accomplish. Both articles give the company and its employees a direction for further speculation and inquiry about space and the space sector,” he said.

The contest opened on Sept. 14, 2006 and ended at midnight on Dec. 31, 2006. Submitted works were judged by David Bullock, President of New Forks, LLC, Prof. U. R. Rao, Former Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, and Maura Mackowski, a Science Writer, Historian, and member of the National Association of Science Writers.

Lois Elfman won in the Unpublished Works Category. She wrote a human-interest feature article on a topic of her choosing from the subject of space and the space sector. New Forks will publish an edited version of her work in its yet-to-be-released initial publication on space and the space sector, scheduled for sometime this year.

Nancy Atkinson won the Published Works Category award for, “From Kendall County to Mars.” Her article about Neil Mottinger, a previous resident of Oswego, Illinois was published in the Ledger-Sentinel Newspaper in December 2003. Ms. Atkinson told the story of Mottinger’s journey within the space sector to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, where he worked in several senior positions including the recent Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) mission.

New Forks, LLC (www.newforks.net) is an independent, start-up media company based in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Contact: David Bullock, President of New Forks, LLC. Tel. 347-404-5431 E-mail: dbullock@newforks.net