Calling all student creatives: Story State contest open for entry
Contact: Kaitlyn Yeatman
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥敽＝巧缜檚 Story State 2025鈥攁n annual contest aimed at sharing Mississippi stories鈥攊s open for entries for new and original stories from all students enrolled at any Mississippi institution of higher learning.
Entries will be accepted through March 14.
Winners for each of the three categories will receive $100, and the overall winner will be named master storyteller and receive an additional $150. Winners will be announced March 27.
鈥淲e want to encourage undergraduate students and others in Mississippi to share their stories. Storytelling is not only an essential part of our lives but one of the most enjoyable things we get to engage in as human beings,鈥 said Anna Blount, 海角社区 communication instructor and competition coordinator for this year鈥檚 event. 鈥淲e鈥檙e invested in the stories of people in and outside of our department and university, and we鈥檙e excited to continue the betterment of students鈥 storytelling skills through this contest.鈥
The three entry categories include:
鈥擶谤颈迟迟别苍:听Students are encouraged to enter works of nonfiction including personal narrative, memoir, narrative journalism, essay and other forms. Students can submit a complete work or an excerpt from a longer work. The word count must fall between 1,000 and 5,000.
鈥擮谤补濒:听Students can submit works of narrative nonfiction audio segments of up to 10 minutes. These segments may be an excerpt from a longer work.
鈥擣颈濒尘:听Submissions for this category include narrative nonfiction video segments of up to 10 minutes and can be an excerpt from a longer work.
Story State also features interviews with professional storytellers. This year, 海角社区 Assistant Professor of Communication Rex Jones interviewed six professionals at the Southeastern Journalism Conference鈥撯揾eld recently at 海角社区鈥撯揻or Story State, including Mo Balaa, founder and CEO of Hintjen; Jared Conerly, sports editor at The Greenwood Commonwealth; Pamela 鈥淧am鈥 Dankins, breaking news reporter at The Clarion Ledger; C.J. LeMaster, investigative reporter and co-anchor at WLBT; Megan Gordon, producer at WLBT; and Craig Peters, senior editor of the Minnesota Vikings鈥 website.
鈥淲e used SEJC to interview some talented panelists for Story State,鈥 said Josh Foreman, chair of the Story State planning committee and SEJC president. 鈥淚t just made sense that we interview them while they were on campus. Some traveled from across the country.鈥
Their interviews will be broadcast on as part of Story State鈥檚 culmination on March 27, offering valuable insights into the evolving landscape of journalism and storytelling, providing students with real-world perspectives on how to craft compelling narratives.
For more information regarding entry submission, visit or email storystate@comm.msstate.edu.
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