S.C. high school writing finalists announced
Columbia, S.C. – Seventy-two high school juniors and seniors from across the state have been named finalists in the fourth South Carolina High School Writing Contest.
Two students from the Pee Dee were among the finalists: Emilee Cox, a junior at West Florence High School and Camryn Quick, a senior at Hartsville High School.
“We started in 2013 with 23 finalists, so we have grown remarkably,” said Steven Lynn, dean of the South Carolina Honors College and founder of the contest. “We are impressed with the quality and quantity of writing we’ve received.”
As in years before, the topic is “How can we make South Carolina better?” Students can respond in the genre of their choice—poetry, fiction, essay, drama, letter—in 750 words or less. The contest is open to juniors and seniors in public, private, and home schools. Writings by the finalists will be included in an anthology published by the University of South Carolina Press.
“We are committed to nurturing writing talent in South Carolina,” said Linda Haines Fogle, acting director of USC Press. “We are thrilled with how this contest has been received and flourished in such a short period of time.”
The Press partners with the SCHC to present the contest. Other presenting partners are the Pat Conroy Literary Center, the South Carolina State Library, the University of South Carolina School of Library and Information Sciences, and Young Palmetto Books, an imprint of USC Press.
Two nationally recognized writers from South Carolina will judge this year’s contest: Pam Durban, an Aiken native whose novels and short stories have won critical acclaim, and Nikky Finney, a Conway native whose “Head Off & Split” won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2011. Both will contribute to “Writing South Carolina: Selections from the Fourth High School Writing Contest,” which will include the work of the finalists.
Durban and Finney will speak to the finalists on the campus of the University of South Carolina March 17, where Round 2 of the competition is planned. Round 2 includes a second, timed, writing test in which finalists respond to an impromptu topic.
First-place winner in the senior class receives $1,000 and the Walter Edgar Award, funded by SCHC alumnus Thad Westbrook and named for his professor, the South Carolina historian and writer. First-place in the junior class receives $1,000 and the Dorothy Skelton Williams Award, funded by an anonymous donor and named for the late upstate public school educator. Second- and third-place winners in the junior and senior classes receive $500 and $250, respectively.
“I taught college freshmen for many years, and I’ve learned our young people have interesting things to say,” said Lynn, who has published books on Samuel Johnson, on critical theory, on the history of rhetoric and composition, and on writing strategies. “These students are our future leaders, and it’s important to understand their viewpoints. They could have solutions—or the seeds to solutions—to the problems we are facing now and in the future.”