PCES student wins poetry contest
Inspiration can come from many different sources, like music, books or real-life events – and it can strike unexpectedly during mundane moments, like waiting in the car. For Phil Campbell Elementary School sixth-grader Paisley Holaway, that’s exactly what happened.
Holaway said her grandmother had just bought her a new journal during a shopping trip, and she was waiting in the car while her grandmother finished shopping. The journal was Slytherin-themed, from “Harry Potter,” which Paisley said reminded her of her favorite Harry Potter character: Draco Malfoy. She put pen to paper and dashed off a few lines of poetry.
“It was a really fast thing, so I didn’t think it was going to be good,” Paisley said.
But she found out soon that it was in fact very good. She showed the poem to her grandmother and mother, and they encouraged her to enter it into a poetry contest hosted by Appelley Publishing. A couple of months later, the company sent Paisley a letter saying they had accepted her poem to be published in the book they are putting together.
“I got really excited about that,” Paisley said.
The contest, which was open to students in grades 3-12, called for poems a minimum of two lines and a maximum of 20 lines. First-place winners in the age categories receive $500, and every student who enters is put into a drawing to receive $25-150.
“I won’t find out until April if I’m a winner for any of those, but I am going to be in the book,” she said.
At the end of February, Holaway showed her poem to her teacher, who then showed it to Principal Jackie Ergle and reading coach Sherri Stancil.
“The reading coach has really encouraged her with all of this,” Ergle said.
The poem isn’t the only thing that Holaway has written. She said she started writing in the fourth grade because she was inspired by R.L. Stine’s books she was reading at the time.
“I thought I could try and write something like that, too, and then I started,” Holaway said.
She has even started working on her own novel, which she said is sci-fi with some comedy and romance.
Stancil, who has read Holaway’s poem and other works, said it’s amazing what the sixth-grader has done so far.
“I told her one day I will buy her book because I know she’s going to get there,” Stancil said.
Holaway said her main inspiration comes from the books that she has read. Aside from J.K. Rowling and R.L. Stine, she also enjoys the works of Agatha Christie.
