Vannah Smalley

Savannah (Vannah) Smalley is a sophomore at the University of Alabama with a major in Creative Media and minors in Theatre and Creative Writing.  She was named the third place Greer Marechal Memorial Prize in Fiction winner in the university’s 2019 undergraduate creative writing contest for her short story, “Rotten”. She is a member of the Creative Media department in UA’s Capstone Agency and a justice on the College of Communication and Information Science’s Academic Honor Council. 

Vannah was born and raised in Tuscaloosa with a wide range of animals, one of them being an arthritic horse. Her favorite, though, has to be her cat of twelve years named Baby Tiddy. (The name was not her choice, but she went with it anyways.) She has a plethora of stories to tell, both good and bad. Such as the time in sixth grade when she decided to be afraid of spoons. Or in tenth grade when her house caught on fire— don’t worry, everything’s okay now! Much of her creative inspiration comes from her wacky relatives that live in the small but colorful Eutaw, Alabama. But all in all, her experiences have only strengthened her more as a writer.  

She’s no stranger when it comes to news reporting, though: Vannah worked for her high school’s broadcast news team as reporter, scriptwriter, producer, and editor-in-chief. On the last day of shooting for the Thanksgiving episode of the broadcast, the reporter for the Entertainment segment called in sick, and Vannah had to come up with a skit in five minutes to then be filmed in the next forty-five. They had a turkey stuffed animal and some leftovers from lunch to work with… LIGHTBULB! A Thanksgiving dinner gone wrong! And… a Madea-type character played by her vivacious friend Josh! “Momma Josh” was born, and the people at Hillcrest High School LOVED it. Vannah and her crew went on to produce three more segments. The show was the talk of the town.

Writing is everything to Vannah. It’s how she works through her problems… or it can make her realize she had problems in the first place! Looking back at what she’s created is what makes her the most proud of herself. Which is why it should come as no surprise to hear that she is DELIGHTED to write for Mosaic. She hopes for a semester containing growth, good times, and grammar galore!