The Mississippi School of the Arts (MSA) congratulates junior and senior literary artists, including two senior theatre students, for their awarded achievements in the 2019 Scholastic Writing Competition. The works of these talented young artists receiving American Voices Nomination, Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention will be recognized at an awards ceremony on April 14th at the Eudora Welty House in Jackson, Mississippi.

Students from all over Mississippi competed in the Mississippi Regional Competition, submitting works in flash fiction, poetry, scriptwriting, and more. The submissions are juried by artists in the field. Among the thousands of writings submitted, only a small percentage will go to the national level. Jurors look for works that exemplify the Awards’ core values: originality, technical skill, and the emergence of personal voice or vision. Works Gold Key recipients will advance to the national competition.

Tobie Lambert, English instructor at MSA, extended her congratulations to a few of her own students who submitted works to the regional competition through the English department. Sam Holley, a senior theatre student, received a Gold Key for the portfolio entitled “An Observation of the Human Condition in a Vacuum,” as well as Honorable Mention for nearly all the portfolio items individually. Jimeya Mayes, also a senior theatre student, received a Silver Key for the poem “Where I’m From,” and Honorable Mention for Kanye; Artistry. Victoria Jerde, a junior literary student, received Honorable Mention for “Perspectives of War.”

Receiving an American Voices Nomination was Morgan Crosby, a junior literary student. It’s a top honor which will also compete at the national level.

This year, students at Mississippi School of the Arts received 1 American Voices Nominations, 10 Gold Keys, 29 Silver Keys, and 27 Honorable Mention awards. 

Madison Cox

  • Gold – Flash Fiction – “Comfort”
  • Gold – Poetry – “Surgeon”
  • Silver – Senior Portfolio – “In the Lift of the Twenty-Third Hour”
  • Silver – Dramatic Script – “Contact Light”
  • Silver – Poetry – “in the light of the twenty-third hour”
  • Silver – Short Story – “Building a Place to House Us”
  • Honorable – Dramatic Script – “The Bends”
  • Honorable – Personal Essay/Memoir – “The Suburbs”

Morgan Crosby

  • Vision Nominee – Short Story – “Coming Out”
  • Gold – Short Story – “Coming Out”
  • Gold – Short Story – “Learning to Let Go”
  • Silver – Poetry – “The Death Diaries”

Emerson Hultman

  • Gold – Dramatic Script – “Another”
  • Silver – Flash Fiction – “Shameful”

Jackson Palmer

  • Gold – Science Fiction/Fantasy – “The Miraculous Wonder-Foot” 
  • Gold – Science Fiction/Fantasy – “The Tartartean Odyssey”
  • Silver – Dramatic Script – “Bob Is a Rock”
  • Silver – Poetry – “Mr. Mantis”

Chloe Russell

  • Gold – Poetry – “The Life Of”

Amaria Sumler

  • Gold – Short Story – “The Goddess of Ivory”
  • Silver – Short Story – “Mate”
  • Honorable – Personal Essay/Memoir – “Jesus Girls
  • Honorable – Poetry – “Angel”
  • Honorable – Poetry – “Falling”
  • Honorable – Short Story – “Reverse”

Jimeya Mayes (Theatre)

  • Silver – Poetry – “Where I’m From”
  • Honorable – Poetry – “Artistry”
  • Honorable – Poetry – “Kanye”

Janey Aron

  • Silver – Dramatic Script – “Young Desperation”
  • Silver – Personal Essay/Memoir – “A Letter to My Mom”

Kerri Bland

  • Silver – Short Story – “The Last Wheelbarrow”

Zoe Conner

  • Silver – Flash Fiction – “Milk a Duck”
  • Silver – Poetry – “Come Hell or Highwater”
  • Honorable – Poetry – “Six Ways to Sunday”
  • Honorable – Poetry – “Stained Glass Soldiers”
  • Honorable – Poetry – “Worth Your Salt”

Tyler Davis

  • Silver – Science Fiction/Fantasy – “Mabon”

 

Charlotte Drane

  • Silver – Senior Portfolio – “The Lonely Path to Retribution”
  • Silver – Poetry – “1943”
  • Silver – Short Story – “There’s a Long Wait for Heaven”
  • Honorable – Poetry – “Wanderlust”

Timera Gaston

  • Silver – Short Story – One Town – “Ten Pockets”

LaNyla McGregory

  • Silver – Poetry – “Z”

Caroline Nations

  • Silver – Personal Essay/Memoir – “Cry Yourself to Sleep”
  • Silver – Poetry – “A Song for Death”

Savannah Phelps

  • Silver – Personal Essay/Memoir – “Letter to Maturity”

Imani Skipwith

  • Silver – Dramatic Script – “Idle”
  • Honorable – Personal Essay/Memoir – “An Open Letter to the Black and White – Typical”
  • Honorable – Poetry – “Path of Sorrow”

Charlie Thompson

  • Silver – Personal Essay/Memoir – “Ode to God Himself”
  • Silver – Poetry – “The Worth of a Severed Ear”
  • Honorable – Poetry – “Held in Place

Zoe Holley (Theatre)

  • Gold – Senior Portfolio – “An Observation of the Human Condition in a Vacuum”
  • Honorable – Critical Essay – “The Medicinal Benefits of the Cannabis Plant”
  • Honorable – Critical Essay “Pops and Punks”
  • Honorable – Critical Essay “The Tipping Point of British Culture”
  • Honorable – Critical Essay – “Gothspeed You! Black Emperor”
  • Honorable – Critical Essay- “Try Acting…It’s Much Easier”

Victoria Jerde

  • Honorable – Poetry – “Perspectives of War”
  • Honorable – Poetry – “Dear Mississippi”

Lane Craft (Theatre)

  • Honorable – Poetry – “Winter Sulk”

Sidney Medina

  • Silver – Senior Portfolio – “Within the Span of a Year: Acceptance”

Taylor Downs

  • Honorable – Senior Portfolio – “Twenty-Five Hours, Eight Days a Week”

Katherine Westbrook

  • Silver – Flash Fiction – “Parsifal”
  • Honorable – Flash Fiction – “Artificial Strawberry”
  • Honorable – Flash Fiction – “Coming Home”
  • Honorable – Poetry – “Table Talk”