In 2022 Nicholls State University launched its High School Writing Contest. The contest returns for the 2023-2024 academic year with a new theme “Water and a Watery World.”
For the second annual contest, we invite submissions of poetry and fiction related to “Water and a Watery World” in any and all genres. High school students from across Louisiana may submit creative work or original studies of water and our watery world.
Water is necessary for human life. Water also connects us and nourishes us. Water can also kill us. From the ancient Egyptians on the Nile to Native Americans navigating waterways in pirogues, to the fishing boats, and the steamers on the bayous and Mississippi River—we use and need water. Our theme of water can be 
considered in terms of crossings, boats and refugees, oceanic literature, local water issues, and more. Pressing modern issues, including the loss of wetlands, rising seas, and salt water intrusion, are welcome, too. We will consider submissions relating to water in any of its forms.
Any genre, creative or analytical, is welcome. For essays and longer, creative works, the word count should be 1000-1500 words.
The High School Writing contest features both a monetary reward and a formal award, given at the Humanities Symposium @ Scholars Expeaux at Nicholls State. Selected students will be invited to read their work at the Humanities Symposium.
To enter, email your submission, preferably in Word or pdf format, to writingcontest@nicholls.edu. Please include your name, phone number, email, and school in the submission. The deadline is 1 February 2024.
Access the Call for Papers as a PDF file.
Inaugural High School Writing Contest Results
The first place award is named in honor of Mabel Bollinger Toups who taught high school English in Lockport, LA and had a special fondness for Louisiana Folklore and the Folklore of the Bayou Region.
Congratulations to our 2023 Winners.
