Students turn out for Juneteenth poetry contest

Published 12:00 pm Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Shadows-on-the-Teche Director John Warner Smith welcomes students to the award ceremony for the second annual Juneteenth Poetry Contest. 

The Sliman Theater was packed with a full house Saturday morning as Shadows-on-the-Teche put on a unique Juneteenth program that brought in students from Iberia Parish to flex their creative muscles in commemoration of the holiday.

The award ceremony for the second-annual Juneteenth Student Poetry Contest was held inside the theater with excited students and parents from local middle and high schools waiting to hear the final verdict on who won the cash prizes in the middle and high school categories.

Shadows-on-the-Teche Director John Warner Smith said this year’s poetry output from local students was much larger than last year’s inaugural event. With the help of fellow Louisiana Poet Laureates Mona Lisa Savoy and Darrell Bourque, Smith and his team sifted through more than 60 submitted poems that were created with the Juneteenth holiday in mind.

“We asked them to write on the theme of freedom and justice for all,” Smith said. “We were sent 65 poems, which is a lot more than we got last year, so our work was cut out for us. It was tough.”