Letters About Literature Contest winners announced

The Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana announced the 2017 winners of the annual Letters About Literature contest. This year, 670 fourth through 12th grade Louisiana students wrote personal letters to authors, living or dead, to thank them and to explain how their works in various genres changed the students’ way of thinking about the world or themselves. The winners of the competition, students from throughout the state, are listed below.

Level I (grades 4 – 6)

1st Place:                             Zelia Lerch, Lusher Charter School, New Orleans

2nd Place:                           Fletcher Reed, Cathedral-Carmel School, Lafayette

3rd Place:                            Christina You, Lusher Charter School, New Orleans

Level II (grades 7 – 8)

1st Place:                             Olivia Bell, Lusher Charter School, New Orleans

2nd Place:                           Taylor Allen, Lusher Charter School, New Orleans

3rd Place:                            Nia Talbott, Lusher Charter School, New Orleans

Level III (grades 9 – 12)

1st Place:                             Jessica Xu, Independent Submission, Metairie

2nd Place (Tied):                 Joseph Ernest Giberga, St. Paul’s School, Covington

2nd Place (Tied):                 Isabella Redman, Bolton High School, Alexandria              

Winners receive $100 for first place, $75 for second place, and $50 for third place, and they will be recognized at the Louisiana Book Festival on Saturday, Oct. 28, in Baton Rouge, with the first place winners reading their letters there. Louisiana’s first place winners’ entries have been submitted to the Library of Congress for the national competition. To read the winners’ letters and see the names of all the state finalists, visit www.state.lib.la.us.

Letters About Literature is made possible by a grant from the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, which promotes and administers the contest through its affiliate state centers for the book, state libraries and other organizations. In Louisiana, the contest is made possible by the Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana with additional assistance from the Louisiana Writing Project and the Louisiana Library and Book Festival Foundation. Funding for prizes is provided by the Library of Congress grant. 

Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country.” She writes Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.