Westerville Central High School junior Morgan Meissner is a state finalist in the high school division of the 2018 Letters about Literature competition.
Letters about Literature is a national contest in which students write to an author, living or dead, whose work of poetry, fiction or non-fiction has made an impact on them personally. Pupils compete in elementary, middle school and high school divisions. The winning letters from each category in each state are forwarded to the national contest.
Meissner’s letter is one of just seven finalists in the state, chosen from 657 students who competed in the high school division. Dozens of students from Westerville Central participated in the contest, 10 if whom made it to the third round.
Meissner wrote to Abdullah Shoaib about his poem, Pretty/Ugly, which can be read forward and backwards, the meaning changing with the direction it is read.
Seven awards in each of the three grade-level divisions are given. Finalists will be recognized at a reception at the Ohio Center for the Book at the Cleveland Public Library on May 11, and their letters will be included in a commemorative booklet. In addition to first, second and third place winners, the contest recognizes four Honorable Mention letter-writers. The first place winner will receive $100; the second place winner will receive $75, and the third place winner will receive $50. In addition, all finalists will receive a selection of books.
Letters about Literature is funded by a grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and from gifts to the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. The goal of the program is to promote and celebrate reading for young people.
Learn how to participate at Central next school year by contacting Jim Grannis at grannisj@westerville.k12.oh.us. More information about the contest in Ohio can be found at http://ohiocenterforthebook.org/letters-about-literature/. Details about the national contest are available at http://www.read.gov/letters/.
Pretty/Ugly
By Abdullah Shoaib
I’m very ugly
So don’t try to convince me that
I am a very beautiful person
Because at the end of the day
I hate myself in every single way
And I’m not going to lie to myself by saying
There is beauty inside of me that matters
So rest assured I will remind myself
That I am a worthless, terrible person
And nothing you say will make me believe
I still deserve love
Because no matter what
I am not good enough to be loved
And I am in no position to believe that
Beauty does exist within me
Because whenever I look in the mirror I always think
Am I as ugly as people say?
(Read this from top to bottom first; then bottom to top for a different meaning.)