By Marin Murray.
Seniors Aiden Seekins and Jackson Riley placed first and third in the poetry category of the Angelo State Writers Conference Contest on March 1.
“They invite 50 different high schools in the area to compete,” creative writing teacher Seth Pace said. “So anytime we win, it’s a big deal. We have won consistently since we started going, which was about eight years ago.”
Seekins won the poetry competition with his work entitled “Overwinter,” in which he reminisced on an important trip he went on recently.
“My inspiration for the piece was from when I went on a trip to Buffalo, New York,” Seekins said. “It was my senior trip, and I went with my dad. I felt really connected with going up there and it felt like a second home. The theme for the competition was ‘Going Home’ so I wrote about going home and going to Buffalo.”
As part of the competition, the students read their entries aloud. Although that part didn’t go like he hoped, he enjoyed getting to share the poem with his dad, who he went on the trip with.
“I tried to throw a couple of jokes into the poem when I read it, but they didn’t really land,” Seekins said. “So that was fun. But, I think the best part is that I got to talk about it with my dad.”
Part of what made Seekins’ poem stand out so much is the authentic and unique voice that he displays in his writing, according to Pace.
“Seekins has a natural voice, which is pretty rare in writing,” Pace said. “So, when you read his stuff, you can tell that it is his stuff.”
Riley, who placed third with his entry “Quiet Luck,” was inspired by similar sentiments about appreciation and family in his short film “Old Junk” that he released earlier this school year.
“I think the biggest inspiration of the piece was looking back at old photos that I had of myself from when I was little and that my parents had taken,” Riley said. “I realized that there are so many people behind the camera that are supporting you within those moments that aren’t seen in the photos and wanted to try to express gratitude toward those people.”
During his time in the creative writing class, which he took to organize a hobby he already had, Riley has grown substantially in his ability.
“Jackson has been in my class for three years now,” Pace said. “He’s grown quite a bit. He had always had good stories, but he wasn’t refined in storytelling. Now he’s very good.”
Seekins, Riley and the other students in creative writing are still awaiting the results of the Abilene Writers’ Guild competition that they entered as well. The class is also responsible for publishing the Gallimaufry, an award-winning literary journal that they put together each year.
“My favorite part of the class is just the community that it builds,” Riley said. “Everybody in the class is very supportive of each other, and it’s just a really great opportunity to be in a class that’s not necessarily fully extracurricular or fully academic.”
