literary arts
Here are this year's submissions to the Celebration Media contest
amanda rosas-casiano
Carver’s words mean to me that true progress isn’t just what’s already know or done — it’s about sparking new ideas by cultivating creativity everywhere. He believed that every breakthrough, every invention, starts in the mind, and that we should nurture imagination and curiosity in everyone. To me, his message is an urgent call: unlock you’re mind, dare to be original, let’s all be unique and original as a whole and as a nation, let us look ahead and push forward.
ellika olewnik
I am often inspired by the world around me, especially the injustices I see in my everyday life. The news and current events make the world a scary place to live in right now, and writing is one of the ways I cope with that. My character Mazzie’s world is much worse than ours, but her experience is similar to ours today, and I hope people can see themselves within her and feel a little more optimistic about the future.
michaela kostakis
Everything in the world — everything that makes the world efficient or beautiful — came to be because someone’s creative mind was stimulated in a new and exciting way. Without the creative mind the world would not be as advanced or beautiful as it is today or will be one day.
Jean (nailah) Agbodjogbe
George Washington Carver’s words resonate with me because they recognize that creativity isn’t born from certainty or confidence, but instead is born from a mind that is allowed to struggle, question, and persist. A creative mind to me is fragile and obsessive, driven by desire as much as doubt.
My work reflects this by showing creativity as something rooted in desire, envy, admiration, and passion. These emotions are often seen as negative or blocking creativity, but for me, they are where it begins. Comparison, fear, and wanting more become the soil that feeds the work. Instead of silencing those feelings, my process allows them to exist and transform into something meaningful.
polly sloan
Greatness grows from ideas, and ideas (like gardens) don’t grow easy. To do so, you must nourish your mind with beauty, fun, and a lot of patience.