NATCHITOCHES – Elayna Babineaux of Hanhville High School in Boutte has been named the first-place winner of the 2024 Northwestern State University Louisiana High School Essay Contest. Babineaux won the honor for her poem “I Sway.” Ren Sercovich of Belle Chasse High School won second place for his creative non-fiction essay “Dr. John and the Electric Sounds of New Orleans,” and Lela Miller of Glenbrook School won third place for her creative non-fiction essay “Outshine the Darkness” One student received Honorable Mention, Madelyn Fossum of Central Lafourche High School for her poem “Ode to Hurricane Ida.”
Writing on the 2024 contest theme “Lyrical Louisiana,” entrants wrote lyric poems inspired by Louisiana and pieces of creative non-fiction about a Louisiana musician or song that inspires them.
“It’s a privilege to be able to spend time with work by young writers from all over the state each year,” said Dr. Rebecca Macijeski, associate professor of English and coordinator of the Creative Writing Program at NSU. “The range of creativity, research, and expression is always inspiring. If I get to work with writers like these in the Creative Writing Program at NSU, I will be one lucky individual.”
Contest winners have been invited to attend the 16th Annual Louisiana Studies Conference on Saturday, Sept. 14 to read their essays to the Conference participants prior to having their work published in the Louisiana Folklife Journal which is published by the Louisiana Folklife Center. The Louisiana Studies Conference will be held on the Natchitoches campus of Northwestern State. This year’s conference theme is “Lyrical Louisiana.” Attendance at the conference is free and open to the public.
The first, second and third prize winners will each receive a $200 per semester NSU scholarship with a value up to $1,600 for 4 years. All of the contest winners will receive a cash prize in honor of their accomplishment. The essay contest is open to all Louisiana students in grades 9 – 12 regardless of type of school institution, including students in all types of private educational environments, as well as home schooled students.
This year’s essay contest judges were Jason Church, chief of Technical Services at the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training; Daniel Gordy, assistant professor of Criminal Justice and English at NSU; Shea Montgomery, instructor of English at NSU; Dr. Shane Rasmussen, director of the Louisiana Folklife Center and professor of English at NSU, and Macijeski.
The contest was sponsored by the Louisiana Folklife Center, the NSU Office of Recruiting and the College of Arts and Sciences. The contest is annual, with a new theme to be announced in early Spring 2025.
For more information contact Dr. Shane Rasmussen, NSU Box 5688, Natchitoches, LA 71497, rasmussens@nsula.edu, or call the Louisiana Folklife Center at (318) 357-4332.
