Nebraska Spanish Creative Writing Winners Announced

Omaha – The winners of a statewide creative writing contest featuring work written in Spanish have been announced. Sponsored in part by the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and Humanities Nebraska, the contest received illustrated poem and fairy tale entries from students in grades five through 12 across the state of Nebraska.

The Creative Writing Award Ceremony will be held on Wednesday, May 7, at 5 p.m. at the UNO Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center, Room 209.

Now in its fifth year, “Though Our Words” was organized by UNO’s Department of Foreign Languages and Literature and the Office of Latino/Latin American Studies (OLLAS). The contest celebrates Spanish language and encourages its creative use among bilingual, heritage speakers and speakers of Spanish as a second language.

The winners for this year’s contest are:

11th and 12th Grade Illustrated Poem
First Place - “Histérica”. Jessica Acosta (11) Crete High School
Second Place - “Tu despedida”. Juliette Castañon (11) Crete High School
First Honorable Mention - “Abril”. Edelmira Santana Flores (12) Omaha Burke High School
Second Honorable Mention - (Shared) “No hables de dolor”. Bri Mettler & Morgan Wacker (11) Norfolk High School

11th and 12th Grade, Fairy Tale:
First Place - “La leona gruñona”. Marlen Fernandez (11) Northwest High School
Second Place - “El lunar de Isabella”. Gabriela López (11) Crete High School
First Honorable Mention - “El castillo de cristal”. Christian Roman (12) Crete High School

9th and 10th Grade, Illustrated Poem:
First Place - “Cuba”. Daicys Corona (9) Grand Island High School
Second Place - “Te amo”. Camila Rodriguez (10) Grand Island High School
First Honorable Mention - “Un deseo”. Jennifer Ortiz (10) Crete High School
Second Honorable Mention - “Reiniciar”. Guadalupe Ayala (9) Grand Island High School

9th and 10th Grade, Fairy Tale:
First Place - “El mundo de caramelo”. Kimberly Santana (10) Crete High School
Second Place - “El cuento de Saúl”. Gabriel Ruiz Herrera (10) Northwest High School

7th and 8th Grade, Fairy Tale:
First Place - “El niño soñador”. Lizeth Quezada Cancino (7) South Sioux City Middle School
Second Place -“Un baile con el diablo”. Maribel Vazquez (8) Crete Middle School
First Honorable Mention - “El niño en el mundo de las maravillas”. Jahir Isreal Velarde Morales (7) South Sioux City Middle School

5th and 6th Grade, Illustrated Poem:
First Place - (Shared) “La niña del bosque”. Annabella Madsen, Mila Herszbaum-Harding, Jocelyn Vazquez (5) R.M. Marrs Magnet Middle School

5th and 6th Grade, Fairy Tale:
First Place - “El huevo perdido”. Gus Hodoly (5) R.M. Marrs Magnet Middle School
Second Place - “Las cinco brujas”. Alejandra Velazquez (6) South Sioux City Middle School
First Honorable Mention - “Los deseos de Haley”. Erlinda Ramirez (5) R.M. Marrs Magnet Middle School

For more information about the contest, contact Eugenio Di Stefano at edistefano@unomaha.edu or Yuriko Doku at ydoku@unomaha.edu or 402.554.3835.

For media questions, please contact Charley Reed, UNO media relations coordinator, at unonews@unomaha.edu or by phone at 402.554.2129.

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