J.P. Taravella Creative Writing Class Sends Finalists to ‘District Literary Fair’

by Guest Contributor March 3, 2022

by Guest Contributor March 3, 2022 32 views

By: Jen Russon

Hundreds of young writers penned entries for Broward County Public School’s annual literary fair, but only the best pieces made it to the final round, with six of these authored by students at J.P. Taravella.

Julian Anton, Cedar Bachmann, Jalen Campbell, David Etienne, Tu Nguyen, and Dylan Pineiro are the six finalists.

Except for Pineiro, whose English teacher, Christa Martel, submitted his piece, the rest of the finalists represent a blended creative writing class taught by Marianne Costi.

“My students submitted outstanding pieces of writing to this year’s district-wide Literary Fair and deserved to be acknowledged for showing exceptional talent and dedication to the craft,” said Costi.

She added winners would be notified by email on April 2 and that a live virtual ceremony would follow at the end of that month.

Broward County Public School’s District Literary Fair has been an annual event for nearly 25 years and showcases outstanding student compositions and language arts projects.

With up to 10 niches in each, the three major categories are Prose, Interpretive, Poetry, and a Poet Lauriat category.

Of the six finalists at J.P. Taravella, winning entries were in the form of a short story presented as a fable, both free verse and rhymed poetry, one sonnet, and a myth.

Creative writing teacher, Marianne Costi, said she is delighted to serve as a judge in the 2022 competition and that picking a clear and decisive winner in its many subcategories promises to be no easy task.