Student Artists, Writers Featured in “Wood Whispers” Magazine
Eight student artists and creative writers were recently recognized for their submissions to “Wood Whispers”, Wood County’s annual literary magazine. The 43rd volume of “Wood Whispers” will be published this year and includes cover design, art, photography, signature poem, poetry, essay and short stories from middle and high schoolers. There were approximately 150 submissions from PHS students, including 70 poems and pieces from twenty-four student artists.
Junior David Rinehart received third place for his poem, “The Fountain”.
“I basically wrote a poem highlighting any form of substance abuse or unhealthy ways to escape from worldly pain,” Rinehart said. “Having role models in my life go through the things I wrote about were really big contributors to how my poem turned out.”
Senior Samantha Talafhah received honorable mention for her poem called “Lonely.” She submitted her poem in the signature poem category. The signature poem appears inside the cover of the magazine.
“I just wrote what I felt,” said Talafhah. “I am extremely grateful that I am being mentioned in ‘Wood Whispers’ this year.”
There were three first place winners from PHS. Bastet Zyla got first in short story, Emily Cox, first in photography and Haley Holbert, first in digital art.
The 2022 “Wood Whispers” winners from Parkersburg High School are:
Signature Poem – Honorable Mention, Samantha Talafhah
Poetry – 2nd place, Quayvon Cyrus; 3rd place, David Rinehart
Essay – 3rd place, Alex VanSkiver; Honorable Mention, Jadyn Jouver
Short story – 1st place, Bastet Zyla; 3rd place, Janie Hinton
Photography – 1st place, Emily Cox; 2nd place, Olivia Gibbs; 3rd place, Ash Hicks
Digital Art – 1st place, Haley Holbert; 2nd place, Konnor Williams; 3rd place, Jaiden Pitts
Erika Gulley is a senior and a third year staff member for The Journal. You’ll most likely find her at Burger King where she works at least five days...
