Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擳he winners of a statewide storytelling competition all hail from Mississippi State University and received top prizes for their moving narratives of struggles, human triumph and finding identity through poetry.
Hosted by MSU, Story State seeks work鈥攚ritten, oral or filmed鈥 from the best collegiate storytellers in the Magnolia State and is open to all students enrolled at one of Mississippi鈥檚 institutions of higher learning. Winners of the written and oral categories received $100, and the competition鈥檚 overall winner was named Master Storyteller and earned an additional $150.
Kamree Howard, a sophomore psychology major from Ellisville, was named 2024鈥檚 Master Storyteller and won first place in the written category for her story 鈥淢agnolia,鈥 a nonfiction narrative about the effects of her parent鈥檚 divorce.
Second place was awarded to Evelin 鈥淛o鈥 Aguilar, a junior architecture major from Pearl, for her story 鈥淢aster Plan,鈥 a piece capturing the emotions of a college student seeking to explore himself but feeling tied to his familial responsibilities back home.
Samuel Hughes, a senior communication and Spanish double major from Biloxi, won third place for his 鈥淪addiq Dzukogi: Exploring identity through poetry,鈥 a profile of MSU faculty member Saddiq Dzukogi, an assistant professor of English and an acclaimed poet.
In the oral category, first place was awarded to Raylen Ladner, a senior communication major from Diamondhead, for her podcast 鈥淐rawfish,鈥 an investigation into the crawfish industry in relation to climate change.
Visit or email ablount@comm.msstate.edu for more information about Story State.
For more details about the MSU College of Arts and Sciences and Department of Communication, visit and .
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