Taylor honored with seven San Diego Press Club awards

SAN DIEGO – Freelance writer Nathalie Taylor, a Village News and Sourcebook Magazine affiliate, won seven awards in six highly competitive categories at the San Diego Press Club’s 46th annual Excellence in Journalism Awards Banquet, Oct. 29, at Jacobs Center Market Creek.

Since 2004 she has won 79 San Diego County journalism awards. Taylor has taken the majority of the photographs that accompany her articles.

Taylor took home one first-place award, five second-place awards and one third-place award. Four of the articles were published in the Village News, and two were 2019 Sourcebook Magazine articles.

Taylor’s first-place award was in the Travel/Domestic category for “Discovery and Serenity in Cambria, CA,” an article published in The San Diego Reader June 2. An excerpt: “Grandma moved to Los Angeles after grandpa passed away. That day – as a teenager – I wrote a note, placed it in a jar and buried it in the garden. It may still be there. I can’t remember my exact words, but it went something like this: “I love Cambria and I vow to return someday.”

The writer took second in Travel/International with, “Just Outside of Dublin” in Village News Sept. 16, 2018. An excerpt: “It rained a bit as I walked along the pier toward the lighthouse. Well, not really rain – more like a mist that was heavy enough to dampen my hair and glisten my face...music from buskers on the pier drifted on the wind. At the shore of the bay, small wavelets lapped at moss-covered rocks.”

Another second-place award came in the Magazines/Entertainment category for “Screenwriter Adrienne Armstrong Charged Through HOLLYWOOD” in 2019 Sourcebook Magazine. Excerpts: “‘Charles in Charge’ is a sitcom, and comedic writing is quite difficult. It takes creative insight and a special touch. Armstrong has it.”

A second-place award was granted to Taylor in the Magazines/Education category for “DeLuz Schoolhouse – Still Vital After All These Years” in 2019 Sourcebook Magazine. The story highlights the school and teacher, Scott Gordon. Excerpts: “At times, the tactile journeys involve grinding acorns like the Luiseños. Acorn dust powders the air as determined workers pound the acorns with stones…The DeLuz Ecology Center learning experience seems more like a field trip – and that field trip excitement is manifested in the faces and voices of the students.”

In the Review/Restaurant category, Taylor took second for, “Yama’s Sushi and Other Bold Culinary Creations” in Village News, Nov. 30, 2018. An excerpt: “Eel sauce drizzled on the top seeps marvelously between the slices of avocado. Bright orange masago (smelt caviar) and green onions crown the creation and make the flavors pop…Delicate wisps of red beets and white turnips add flavor and brighten the plate. All of these components meld to create a definite taste explosion.”

Taylor took both second and third place in the Review/Live Performance category. “Strawberry Alarm Clock Rings Out at the San Diego County Fair” in Village News, July 19, 2018, was her second-place story. Excerpts: “As a ninth grader, ‘Incense and Peppermints,’ mesmerized me…the cleverly blended instrumental sounds and the poetical quality of the lyrics drew me…its slight eerie quality was stirring.”

“Frankie Avalon Still a Crooner” in Village News, July 26, 2018, was the writer’s third-place award in the Review/Live Performance category. Excerpts: “As he entertained the crowd, Frankie Avalon was upbeat, delightful and energetic. He was a ray of sunshine in the already sunny San Diego air.”

Taylor, who holds a bachelor of arts degree in English from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, was seated on the Alumni Advisory Board for the university’s College of Liberal Arts from 2011 to 2018. Since 2015, she has been a San Diego Press Club Honorary Committee member. Taylor has been a Village News affiliate since 2003 and writes freelance through her business, Krona Publications.