Three seniors and one junior have won the top awards in the annual South Carolina
High School Writing Contest. Presented by the South Carolina Honors College, the contest
asks the same question each year: “How can we make South Carolina better?” Students
can respond in poetry, prose, drama, and fiction, keeping their submissions within
750 words. This year’s judge was Columbia novelist Carla Damron, whose realistic family and suspense fiction have won national awards.
Dune Adams
Dune Adams of Greenville won first place with “If This Were a Fairy Tale,” an essay
about gender identity and discrimination. Adams is a senior at the South Carolina
Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities.
“I loved this heartfelt, deeply personal essay,” Judge Damron wrote. “It’s brave to
write from such an intimate perspective, but the point resonates.”
Adams will receive the Walter Edgar Award, which includes $1,000. The Walter Edgar
Award is funded by Thad Westbrook, a Columbia lawyer and South Carolina Honors College graduate, in honor of his history
professor.
Caitlin Ferry
Caitlin Ferry of North Myrtle Beach won second place with “The Fifty States of High
School,” a humorous imagining of students from different states starring in a fictitious
television show. Her argument: Students will develop more passion for learning when
teachers are not confined to textbook teaching. A senior at North Myrtle Beach High
School, Ferry will receive the South Carolina Academy of Authors Award, which includes
$500.
Cam Beck
Cam Beck of Columbia won third place for “Wax Museums, Wikipedia, and White Supremacy,”
an essay about witnessing racism in three different education systems in South Carolina.
A senior at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School in Columbia, Beck will receive the South
Carolina Academy of Authors/Pat Conroy Literary Center Award, which includes $250.
Ansley Allgood
Ansley Allgood of Aiken won Honorable Mention for “Children: The Humans Who Are Not,”
a personal essay about how family law in South Carolina affects children of divorce.
Allgood is a junior at Midland Valley High School in Graniteville.
Now in its twelfth year, the South High School Carolina Writing Contest was founded
by Steven Lynn, Ph.D., dean of the South Carolina Honors College. The contest includes a publishing opportunity
for its winners and finalists. This year, the submissions of the four winners and
15 finalists will be published on the SCHC website. The series of volumes are titled
“Writing South Carolina: Selections of the High School Writing Contest.”
“This generation, like all generations, has its unique concerns,” said Aïda Rogers,
contest coordinator. “Students in South Carolina are affected by school shootings
–– and the fear of them –– as well as racism and education inequality. They can educate
older generations about their struggles with mental health and their worries about
the environment. We think these writers are our future leaders, and we hope people
will read their published work.”
The contest’s presenting partners include the Pat Conroy Literary Center, the South Carolina Academy of Authors, the South Carolina Writers Association, and the South Carolina State Library. Previous judges have been acclaimed South Carolina writers, including novelists
Pat Conroy, Ron Rash, Pam Durban, Mary Alice Monroe and Elise Blackwell; poets Nikky
Finney, Felicia Mitchell, Marjory Wentworth, Sam Amadon and Ray McManus; historian
Walter Edgar; and Jonathan Haupt, director of the Pat Conroy Literary Center.
The finalists for the 2024-25 year are:
Donshea Brown, May River High School, Bluffton
Hannah Brown, Spring Hill High School, Chapin
Niamh Carmichael, Charleston County School of the Arts, North Charleston
Jaylee Carter, Mayo High School for Math, Science, and Technology, Darlington
Isabella Corretjer, Indian Land High School, Lancaster
Eleanora Davis, Spring Hill High School, Chapin
Jonathan Dixon, Midland Valley High School, Graniteville
Lucy Hartley, South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Math, Hartsville
Tatiyana James, Ridge View High School, Columbia
Emmanuel Lopez-Reyna, May River High School, Bluffton
Lillian Osbon, Academic Magnet High School, North Charleston
Lyra Pinner, Richland Northeast High School, Columbia
Mary Frances Ruskell, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, Columbia
Maren Spangler, Charleston County School of the Arts, North Charleston
Sara Weston, A.C. Flora High School, Columbia