For the past twenty years, the Gerald F. and Betty Fincher Scott Endowment has provided funding for the annual Southern Arkansas University Creative Writing Festival hosted by the SAU Department of English and Foreign Languages.
The annual festival grew out of a summer writing class taught by Dr. Kathleen Mallory, former professor of English. Approximately 415 students from 20 area schools participated in the April 1 event at the SAU Reynolds Center. Students had the opportunity to enter their work in three separate categories: Poetry, Creative Non-Fiction, and Fiction.
Prize awards were made possible through an endowment established in 1996 by Mr. and Mrs. Harold Fincher in honor of Gerald and Betty Fincher Scott. The following categories list the honorees from elementary, intermediate, and high school writers:
Gerald F. Scott Award—Elementary Poem Award
- 1st Place—Ayla Buford, The Wind, Taylor Elementary
- 2nd Place—Sadie Foster, The Best World, Taylor Elementary
- 3rd Place—Addie Mayfield, I Wonder, Emerson Elementary
Gerald F. Scott Award—Elementary Fiction
- 1st Place—Sadie Moore, The Three Bears: Part II, Taylor Elementary
- 2nd Place—Mason Buford, The Man in the Moon, Taylor Elementary
- 3rd Place—Austin Aycock, Halloween Night, Taylor Elementary
Gerald F. Scott Award—Elementary Creative Non-Fiction
- 1st Place—Casey Fewell, What I’m Thankful For, Emerson Elementary
- 2nd Place—Avery Barker, My Trip to Dallas, Emerson Elementary
- 3rd Place—Horatio Moreno, Worse Day Ever, Emerson Elementary
Betty Fincher Scott Award—Intermediate Poem
- 1st Place—Mason Jackson, The Man I Want to Be, Taylor Elementary
- 2nd Place—Dakota Glass, Alone, Taylor Elementary
- 3rd Place—Lindsay Cornwell, Ten Seconds, Central Elementary
Betty Fincher Scott Award—Intermediate Fiction
- 1st Place—Abby Flow, The Hand-Me-Down-Teddy, Emerson Elementary
- 2nd Place—Mason Dougan, The Horrors of War, Parkers Chapel
- 3rd Place—Jazmine Thomas, The Unbelievable Twist, Parkers Chapel
Betty Fincher Scott Award—Intermediate Creative Non-Fiction
- 1st Place—Cade Waller, My Grandaddy, Emerson Elementary
- 2nd Place—Nolie Thompkins, My Dog Cowboy, Emerson Elementary
- 3rd Place—Reese Mitchell, My Hero, Emerson Elementary
D.J. Fincher Award-Jr. High School Poem
- 1st Place—Billie Beaird, Dancing in a Funeral Parlor, Parkers Chapel
- 2nd Place—Bailey Easterling, Softball is Life, Arkansas High School
- 3rd Place—Rebecca Benedetti, Small Border Towns, Parkers Chapel
D.J. Fincher Award-Jr. High School Fiction
- 1st Place—Rebecca Benedetti, Florida Plates, Parkers Chapel
- 2nd Place—Garrett Taylor, The Hunter, Parkers Chapel
- 3rd Place—Alyssa Frisby, Aster, Parkers Chapel
D.J. Fincher Award-Jr. High School Creative Non-Fiction
- 1st Place—Julie Phillips, The Odd Reality of Fictional Living, Magnolia Junior High
- 2nd Place—Darnarius Aaron, Finding Out Who I Am, Parkers Chapel
- 3rd Place—Kelsey Hernandez, My New Journey, Parkers Chapel
Harold Fincher Award-High School Poem
- 1st Place—Reana Roberson, Hello, DeQueen High School
- 2nd Place—Brandon Zacarias, Poor Boy, Mena High School
- 3rd Place—Kameron King, Young Love Lost, Magnolia High School
Harold Fincher Award-High School Fiction
- 1st Place—Taylor Howard, Confessions of a Hitman, Mena High School
- 2nd Place—Skylar Beck, My Letter to You, Mena High School
- 3rd Place—Adam Cornelius, One and the Next, Arkansas High School
Harold Fincher Award-High School Creative Non-Fiction
- 1st Place—Cady Milam, Hughes, Prometheus, and Judas, Taylor High School
- 2nd Place—Melanie Martin, This I Believe, Magnolia High School
- 3rd Place—Laura Lane, An Irregular Sunday Morning, Taylor High School
To learn more on how to establish an endowment to invest in the lives of our next generation, please contact the SAU Foundation office at (870) 235-4078.
