4 District High School Students Named Winners of Prairie View A&M University’s Inaugural Toni Morrison Creative Writing Contest

Disponible en: Español

Dr. Emma Joahanne Thomas-Smith (far left), Dr. James M. Palmer (far right), and Principal Walter Stewart pose with contest winners (l-r) Selena Tovias, Melanie González, Andrea Martínez, and Frank Rojas.

Andrea Martínez, Frank Rojas, and Selena Tovias from Aldine High School and student Melanie González from Carver High School are winners of Prairie View A&M University’s Toni Morrison Writing Program Contest.

The program, which launched last year, bears the name of writer Toni Morrison. It amplifies the work of poignant writers who attended historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The curriculum honors Morrison by focusing on how Morrison’s alma mater Howard University was instrumental in shaping her path. It also empowers writers who will transform the future of literature. One of the most celebrated and widely published writers, Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Nobel Prize for literature. President Barack Obama also awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

As part of the program, the Texas-based institution appointed a Writer-in-Residence to introduce students to the different facets of African American literature through an array of seminars and workshops. The Writer-in-Residence, who has a one-year visiting appointment at Prairie View A&M University — focused on amplifying the work of writers who attended HBCUs. PVAMU also led the high school creative writing contest and provided the winners with scholarships.

The inaugural Writer-in-Residence was the legendary Nikki Giovanni. She won the Carl Sandburg Award, the Langston Hughes Award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts and Letters, the NAACP Award, and the First Rosa Parks Women of Courage Award. Last year marked the 50th anniversary of Nikki Giovanni’s poetry set to music, an album titled “Truth is on its Way.”

The $3 million initiative is funded by a gift made by novelist and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, a former student of Morrison’s at Princeton University. Scott donated $50 million to Prairie View A&M University in 2020. PVAMU Provost Emerita Emma Joahanne Thomas-Smith, Ed.D., spearheads the Toni Morrison Writing Program.

“The effort helps students develop their skills and find their voices in literature. The university’s faculty, staff, and area high schools share in the program’s activities. They also benefit from the Writer-in-Residence and other artists representing the full range of literary genres,” said Thomas-Smith.

Also present were Dr. James M. Palmer, provost and senior vice president of academic affairs, Aldine High School Principal Walter Stewart, the students’ parents, and their teachers.

Students who compete and win in the Morrison writing contest need not have selected Prairie View A&M University as the college they will attend. Still, those who gain entrance and enroll as full-time freshmen will receive a scholarship equal to the amount already received as a cash prize.

Aldine ISD Results in Toni Morrison Creative Writing Contest

1st Place in Poetry — $3,000 Award*

Melanie González
Carver High School for Applied Technology, Engineering and The Arts
*If she attends Prairie View A&M University for the 2022-2023 academic year, she will receive an additional $3,000.

1st Place in Fiction — $3,000 Award

Selena Tovias
12th grade, Aldine High School
English Teacher: Lincoln Leatherman
*If she attends Prairie View A&M University for the 2022-2023 academic year, she will receive an additional $3,000.