Festival of Words Youth Writing Contest Winners

The Acadiana Writing Project partners with Festival of Words every year to sponsor the Festival of Words Youth Writing Contest. Hundreds of Acadiana students in grades three through 12 submitted poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction pieces. All submissions were anonymous, for blind judging. Winners will be honored at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016, at The Thensted Center, 268 Church St. in Grand Coteau, Louisiana. To learn more about Festival of Words, visit http://www.festivalofwords.org/.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Poetry 
1st: "My Friends" by Krysten Torres, Breaux Bridge Elementary School
2nd: "The Nightmare I will Never Forget" by Nyeela Lewis, Breaux Bridge Elementary School

Fiction
1st: "The Face in the Sun" by Krysten Torres, Breaux Bridge Elementary School
2nd: "Two Bad Ants Travel to Florida" by Ebony Champagne, Breaux Bridge Elementary School
3rd: "Super X" by Ashantay Sampy, Breaux Bridge Elementary School

Creative Non-Fiction
1st: "Solids" by Gavin Gary, Breaux Bridge Elementary School
2nd: "My Name" by Charleston Bevin, Breaux Bridge Elementary School

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Poetry
1st: "Twister" by Brooklyn Meshell, Lafayette Middle School
2nd: "Freedom" by Destiny Royal, Lafayette Middle School
3rd: "That Was Me Then; This is Me Now" by Christa Johnson, Broussard Middle School

Fiction
1st: "Tootsie’s Revenge" by Angelina Jones, Edgar Martin Middle School
2nd: "Fire" by Chloe Baudoin, Broussard Middle School
3rd: "Me Plus Change" by Brooklyn. Money, Broussard Middle School

Creative Non-Fiction
1st: "Crawfish Mayhem" by Teague Bellard, Edgar Martin Middle School
2nd: "The Great, Long, and Exciting Move" by Colton Harrison, Broussard Middle School
3rd: "5th grade, a Whole New World" by Chloe Schexnaider, Broussard Middle School

HIGH SCHOOL

Poetry
1st: "The Picture " by Caroline Gauthier, Iota High School
2nd: "Explaining My Sadness to Him" by Mariaelena Leger, Lafayette High School
3rd: "7 19 p.m." by Alexas Bender, Lafayette High School

Fiction
1st: "Lucky" by Audrey Broussard, Lafayette High School
2nd: "The Chaos Theory" by Kelton Musumeche, New Iberia Senior High School
3rd: "Heartbeat Forest" by Jessica Hackett, Lafayette High School
4th "The Search for Freedom” by Yoani Suarez, Lafayette High School

Creative Non-Fiction
1st: "Painful Bliss" by Kristen Hebert, Iota High School
2nd: "Remember" by Lauren John, Iota High School
3rd: "All Rained Out" by Caden Hudson, Lafayette High School

Cheré Dastugue Coen is the author of several Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire. She is also the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.