Scissortail is Cancelled--but the Celebration of Writers Continues!

Sadly, due to the pandemic, Scissortail--and almost every other festival and conference in the country--has been cancelled. This is the first time in the 15 years of the Festival that this has occurred (and hopefully, the last). However, part of the Festival continues: the recognition of our High School Creative Writing Contest for Fiction and Poetry! Hundreds of writers from dozens of schools submitted poems and short stories to our contest, and last week, we ranked them into 13 winners in both categories. 

We are always thrilled to recognize these up-and-coming writers, many of whom are winning awards (and money) for the first time in their writing careers. But we are also anxious to recognize their teachers as well, many of whom design their assignments around the competition, and often help the student revise their work and even submit it. One teacher personally sends an envelope to me every year bursting with 30-40 poems! As you can imagine, that requires a lot of stamps...

The winners are listed below: please congratulate these students and their teachers if you know them, and encourage other high school students to enter the contest next year (when we can hopefully recognize their achievement in person). ALSO: we'll soon be announcing our Undergraduate Creative Writing Contest winners, so stay tuned at ecuscissortail.blogspot.com! 

Poetry Winners

First Place: Eva Hicks. "Torturous Dreams." Edmond MHS (Instructor: Kelly Bristow)
Second Place: Izabel Tyler. "Bones." Little Axe HS (Neal Elkins)
Third Place: Skyla Daniels. "Joy." Chandler HS (Kim Leatherwood)

Honorable Mentions:
Gracie Kinnaman. "There is a Line." Cascia Hall (Sarah Kennedy)
Layla Drotar. "Monroe County, MI." Cascia Hall (Sarah Kennedy)
Laura Ramos. "Breeze." Mustang HS (David Christy)
Emily Newby. "Self Discovery," Broken Arrow HS (Patricia Torres)
Cat Draper. "Crime to Love." Edmond MHS (Kelly Bristow)
Emma Bax. "The Good One." Edmond MHS (Kelly Bristow)
Jacob Compton. "Castle at the Edge of the Sea." Lawton HS (Terence Freeman)
Aahila Patton. "Growing Wings." Lawton HS (Terence Freeman)
Gabrielle McMahon-Csaki. "Sleep Deprived." Vanoss HS (Beverly Rambo)
Emma Lane. "Not Enough." Mount Saint Mary Catholic HS (Rebecca Lane)

Fiction Winners:

First Place: Delanie Seals. “Interim.” Byng High School (Instructor: Courtney White)
Second Place: Guthrie Jenkins. “The Loneliest Road.” Norman High School (Sara Doolittle)
Third Place: Evan Boothe. “Operation Armageddon.” Washington High School (Jessica Enox)

Honorable Mention:
Gabrielle McMahon-Csaki. “Flavia.” Vanoss High School (Beverly Rambo)
Bailey Sparks. “Letters Never Sent.” Washington High School (Dawn Lanham)
Hailey Kafitz. “Dear.” Norman High School (Sara Doolittle)
Rhylee Tucker. “Lights Out.” Pauls Valley High School (Stephanie Bonner)
Jennie Higdon. “I Can’t Remember the Title.” Washington High School (Brandi Castle)
Perrisa A. Borders. “The Devil Wears Saint Laurent.” Pathways Middle College (Michelle Manning)
Ian Holdman. “The Cold.” Bartlesville High School (Anna Garrett)
Emma Dennin. “James, Grace, and the Subways.” Edmond Memorial High School (Kelly Bristow)
Emily Newby. “Vacuvallum: Desolate and Paradisal.” Broken Arrow High School (Patricia Torres)
Hayleigh Carrillo. “Rings Made of Gold and Lies.” Pathways Middle College (Michelle Manning)