Pinkie Gordon Lane Ninth Annual Poetry Contest Awards

Every year in April, to celebrate National Poetry Month, Southern University hosts a poetry contest in the honor of Pinkie Gordon Lane. Lane was an African American woman who was a poet, author, editor, and teacher. She is also the first African American woman to receive a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) from Louisiana State University in the year of 1967. She was also the first African-American woman to be named as Louisiana’s Poet Laureate from 1989 to 1993. She began her teaching career in 1957 at Leland College in Baker, Louisiana but she eventually left Leland to teach English and serve as chair of the English department at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Staying there for twenty-seven years, she retired in 1986. The contest was named after Lane because she paved the way for many black poets in Louisiana, to celebrate the accomplishments she has made throughout her lifetime and her contributions to Southern University.
Southern University’s John B. Cade Library, started hosting the Pinkie Gordon Lane Poetry Slam awards in April 2011. This year, there were a total of one hundred-sixty contestants competing against one another to win the number one spot of Lane’s ninth annual poetry contest award.
The fourth place winner was Donnatella Henry, an honor roll freshman who attends New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. Henry read her poem called “Barrowed Memories”. The third place winner was Kendrick Ross, a junior from McKinley High School. Ross read his poem which is titled “Where I’m from”. The name of the second place winner is Myracle Lewis, an honor roll senior at Baton Rouge Magnet High School. Lewis read her poem named “History Within Nature”. Last but not least, the first place winner was Renee Richichi, an honor roll sophomore who attends New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. The four winners received different prizes including Visa gift cards, Amazon gift cards, tablets, and other various prizes.
The poetry awards are used to encourage the youth to keep writing. It also allows students to be rewarded for their quality and the hard work they put into every single piece of their writing.
Assistant University Librarian, Dr. Charlotte Henderson expressed that the poetry awards are so important to her because, “it tells me how many young people are inspired to write and voice their expressions about their life and be free about it. It’s a miracle they can do that and put it on paper”. The awards show people that the youth still have a love for writing and people still express their personality, history, and their emotions through their poetry.
Dean of Libraries, Emma Bradford Perry stated that, “the awards mean everything to me. Students are able to write poetry and express themselves in a healthy way”. Many writers have been writing since they were kids.
Second place winner Myracle Lewis, shared, “I’ve been writing since I was in third grade…my emotions and my thoughts in general inspires me to keep writing”. The awards show how significant writing is to students and what inspires them to keep writing everyday.