Front row, seated from left: Ayden Boudreaux, Abigail Boudreaux, Jiya Shah, Terrence Johnson, Jasmin Lugo, Shelby Pierre, and Leid Metcalf, accepting for Calhoun Metcalf.
Back row from left: Tommy Allen, Cruse Carpenter, Sandy Bruney, Kaye Ratliff, Ambria Nivens, Bentley White, and Troy Anthony Faw.
ANSON COUNTY — Anson County Writers’ Club (ACWC) recognized the winners of the 2024 contests in prose and poetry with an awards ceremony and reception February 23 at the First Presbyterian Church fellowship hall. The winners received certificates and cash prizes for their entries. This year, the winners also received a copy of “Anson Pathways XII,” an anthology of the 2022, 2023, and 2024 winning entries.
The ACWC held its first contests in 1989, the year of the club’s founding, followed by an awards ceremony the following February. This tradition has been followed every year since, with the exception of 2020 due to the pandemic.
President Kaye Ratliff welcomed the winners and their friends and families before presenting the awards.
Abigail Boudreaux of Wadesboro won first place in the Grades 3-6 division in poetry for “The Big Blue.” Terrence Johnson of Wadesboro won first place in prose for “My New School Journey.”
Ayden Boudreaux won first place for poetry in the Grades 7-8 division for her poem “Seasons.” Bentley White won second place for “The Nice and Sweet Beauty of Nature;” and Jiya Shah received third place for “Stage Fright.”
In the youth prose category for grades 7-8, Calhoun Metcalf won first place for “The Temple of the Golden Jaguar;” Shelby Pierre won second place for “The Warlock and the Meercat;” and Sha’Ontae Blue won third place for “My Gender Does Not Define Me.” All the grades 7-8 winners attend Anson Middle School.
Troy Anthony Faw, Anson County Early College, won first place in poetry, grades 9-12, for “The Past Shall Stay.” Princess Danica Mae M. Bilog, Anson County Early College, won second place for “The Sunset is Coming;” and Ms. KaNyah Caraway, AXIS, won third place for “Social Media Effects on Youth.”
Ambria Nivens, Anson County Early College, won first place in youth prose, grades 9-12, for her story, “The Whispers of Whitmore.”
Sandy Bruney, Wadesboro, won first place in the adult poetry category for “On Reading Mary Oliver to My Cat;” Noah Cruse Carpenter, Peachland, won second place for “My Mountain Home;” and Madalyn Rohler, Wadesboro, won third place for her poem, “Cataclysm.”
Tommy Allen, Monroe, won first place in the adult prose category for “He Up There;” Jasmin Lugo, Wadesboro, won second place for “A Mother’s Quiet Strength;” and Kaye Ratliff, Wadesboro, won third place for “The Birthday Girl.”
After the ceremony, winners and their families, along with ACWC members, enjoyed light refreshments.
Earlier contests were divided into youth and adult categories. At first, the youth division was divided into the K-6 and 7-12 grades. Since 2022 the divisions are 3-6, 7-8, and 9-12 to reflect the Anson County Schools’ elementary, middle, and high school divisions.
The contests are open to all school students, and any adult living in or originally from Anson County; or working in Anson County. Judges are chosen outside the writers’ club membership and do not know the names of the entrants.
The ACWC meets at 3:00 p.m. on the fourth Sunday of each month except July and December and is open to anyone who is interested in the club’s mission of fostering the art of writing in Anson County. The ACWC does this through regular meetings, bringing public recognition to Anson County writers, developing talent through workshops, lectures, and readings; and sponsoring the annual contests.
Every three years since 1992, the club has published an anthology of winning entries. Anson Pathways XI and XII, can be purchased from Amazon.