Arts Rolla 15th Writing Competition

On Saturday, October 25, 2025 several Missouri authors and poets gathered to hear selected poems, works of fiction and works of non-fiction read by the authors at the Arts Rolla 15th Writing Competition.

Poems submitted were:
- "Patchwork People" by Hannah Coffman
- "Breakfast with God" by Hannah Coffman
- "Joy" by Cynthis Cowles
- "The Dime" by Sande Cromer
- "Be Still And Know That I Am God" by Sande Cromer
- "The Dandelion Wish" by Sande Cromer
- "Cold" by Kathy Gillette
- "Huskey Cemetery" by Nathan Hall -----Third Place
- "Soured" by Nathan Hall
- " Grandpa's Paperweights" - by Nathan Hall
- " The Cross" by Nicole Lightbown
- "Trauma Based" by Nicole Lightbown
- "Who Am I" by Nichole Lightbown
- "Our Place in the Universe" by Brenda Linkeman
- "Nature's Abstracts" by Brenda Linkeman ----- Honorable Mention
- " The Next" by Brenda Linkeman
- "Phoenix of Promise" by Abdullah Al Moinee
- "Sail of Sojourn" by Abdullah Al Moinee
- " Silence" by C. E. Noel
- "Feline Sleeping" by C. E. Noel
- "On White Canvas" by Tara Pedroley ----- Second Place
- "Peach Trees & Morning Makeup" by Tara Pedroley -----Honorable Mention
- "A Speck of Dirt" by Tara Pedroley
- "We're Still Here" by Molly Remer ----First Place
- "Permission Slip for Allowing" - by Molly Remer----- Honorable Mention
- " Listen To The Moon" by Molly Remer
- "Garage Sale" by Chuck Roling
- "This Old House And Me" by Chuck Roling
- "Opening Day" by Chuck Roling
- "When the Soul Breathes" by Georgia Lynn Slawson
- "I Woke Up And You Were There" by Melissa Soebbing
- "Scarlet Symphony" by Melissa Soebbing
- "The Ocean's Whispers" by Tara Stone
- "Of Love And Lavender" by Tara Stone
- "Normal With An Asterisk" by Tara Stone

Works of Non-Fiction submitted:
- "A Liturgy of Loveliness" by Hannah Coffman ----- Second Place
- "A Heaven Sent Shield" by Sande Cromer -----Third Place
- "Sound of Silence" by Abdullah Al Moinee -----Honorable Mention
- "A Day In The Lifer Of A Drywaller" by C. E. Noel -----First Place Tie
- "Annie's Revenge" by Loretta Peterman -----First Place Tie

Works of Fiction submitted:
- "Searching For Sam" by Gilbert Franklin ----- Second Place
- "From A Gladiator To Good Girl" by Lisa Hader ----- First Place
- "The Philosopher Of Mount Aleph" by Abdullah Al Moinee
- "The Cave Artist Receives Text" by C. E. Noel ----------Third Place
- "Rolla Dungeon" by Clint Richards ----- Honorable Mention
- "The Carduan Chronicles: Ship Eighteen" by Karen Smith
- "Best Friends Forever" by Delyth Wells

Our judges for the event were:
- Poetry was judged by Agnes Vojta.
- Non-Fiction was judged by Karen Glines.
- Fiction was judged by Derek L. Zboran

Thank you to the many writers and poets who submitted work for this event. We greatly appreciate our judges and their investment of time and talent.   We appreciate the many people who helped make this evening a reality.

Arts Rolla will soon announce the date for PoetSpeak and will encourage Missouri poets to participate.
The arts bring communities together.

15th Writing Competition -
The authors have given Arts Rolla permission to share the works shown below.  

​Libby’s Revenge
Non-Fiction
By Loretta Peterman
Note from the Author:   The names of my family members have been changed for this story to respect their privacy.    ​

 
My family is large and it is filled with people who have “strong” personalities.   The ladies with “strong” personalities greatly outnumber the men.  Some folks would say that the ladies in my family are stubborn, but I believe that the ladies in my family are persistent or determined.  A few are legends. 

My cousin, Elizabeth Josephine Williams was one of the “strong” women in my family.  Elizabeth was called Libby by everyone in Eminence, Missouri.  She was smart and kind and people were drawn to her quick wit.   Her auburn hair, freckles and smile made her adorable and her ability to tell humorous stories with ease made her popular.   However, many considered Libby to be average looking. 

When Libby was 17, she met the love of her life.  He was a wood cutter named Ernest Conners from a small town nearby.   Libby had indeed found her true love and they got married.   A year later their first daughter was born.  

However, Libby’s perfect life was soon shattered when an accident took Ernest’s life.  Now Libby found herself a single mother, with limited skills, struggling to find a job.  It wasn’t long until Libby found a job working as a seamstress at a nearby uniform factory.  

Life is difficult for single parents and money was in short supply.    However, Libby was determined to provide for her daughter.  Libby was smart and a good worker.  She managed to make ends meet. 

Single mothers do not get many dates.  However, several years after the loss of Ernest, a smooth-talking gentleman by the name of Eugene Miller began to notice Libby.   While she wasn’t a raving beauty, she was attractive enough to be interesting to Eugene.    Libby was flattered.  Eugene was considered to be handsome and quite a catch by the local ladies.   He was indeed a lady’s man and ladies were very flattered when the handsome Eugene invited them to go on a date. 

Libby was smitten by Eugene and after a brief courtship, Eugene and Libby were married.    They soon added two more children to their family.  

However, Libby was now a married lady, working full time and caring for 3 children and Eugene.  Eugene began to grow tired of family life and it wasn’t long until Eugene began to long for the company of other local ladies.  After all, Eugene felt like he was a handsome guy that the ladies adored.    

Soon, Eugene became less interested in coming home and much more interested in keeping company with various local ladies.   Eugene did not care what people said, he was much more interested in having fun.

Eventually, Libby realized that Eugene was not good husband material.   However, she could not bring herself to be unkind or mean to Eugene.   She still cared for him and she had 2 beautiful daughters because of Eugene.  

Eugene filed for divorce and soon found himself with a new woman that he thought was much more interesting and exciting than Libby.   However, the new woman, while exciting and interesting, did not enjoy cooking for Eugene or doing his laundry.  

Eugene, relying heavily on his charm, would drop by Libby’s home for a home cooked meal and when he needed his laundry done. Libby gently reminded Eugene that they were divorced, but Eugene was enjoying life with various ladies around town and ignored Libby until he needed laundry done or a home cooked meal.   Eugene continued to ask his former wife to do his laundry and cook supper.   After all Libby knew exactly how Eugene wanted his laundry done and the foods that Eugene liked to eat. 

Libby, wanted to do everything in her power to entice Eugene to return to her home and marry her once again.  She didn’t want to offend Eugene. However, Eugene had other ideas which included lots of fun with lots of different women.  So, every week Eugene appeared at Libby’s front door with a basket of soiled laundry and asking if he could eat one of her home cooked meals. 

Eugene was very happy with this arrangement, but Libby was sad and felt trapped.  Her kindness prevented her from taking a strong stand and telling Eugene that he was no longer welcome in her home. 

Finally, Libby had reached her limit with Eugene.   She was going to take action.  One Saturday, Eugene dropped by Libby’s home and left a basket of laundry for her to wash.   Libby was not interested in doing Eugene’s laundry, and struggled with how she could tell the handsome Eugene that he would need to make other arrangements. 

On that Saturday morning as Libby faced a mountain of Eugene’s soiled laundry, Libby decided that she had been patient, with Eugene, long enough.   This week Libby decided to toss her new fiberglass curtains in the washer with Eugene’s underwear.  

The laundry was washed, dried, folded and in the clothes basket when Eugene arrived to claim his freshly washed laundry and enjoy one of Libby’s delicious home cooked meals. 

Libby’s freshly laundered fiberglass curtains hung in the kitchen window. 

Things would soon get much more interesting.  
 
Soon after picking up his laundry, Eugene began to develop a rash every place his underwear touched.   So, Eugene dropped by Libby’s home asking if she had switched laundry detergent or if she had used different fabric softener.   Libby showed Eugene her laundry room with the same familiar brand of detergent and fabric softener sitting on the shelf above the washing machine.   Eugene left satisfied that there must be something else causing his rash. 

However, the rash seemed to get a little worse every day.   After Eugene had tried most over-the-counter ointments and creams, he sought medical attention.  The rash was growing larger and almost unbearable.  The cause of the rash could not be determined by Eugene’s doctor, but prescriptions were written for several ointments, in an attempt to provide Eual with some relief. 

Soon several attractive ladies in town developed this mysterious, painful rash.  The local doctors had no idea how to solve the problem and they were concerned because they had no answer.    As the number of patients with this rash increased, the doctors suspected that this rash was perhaps contagious.  

The gossip from the local coffee shop included stories of the spread of this mysterious rash, which included several prominent ladies in this community and how this mystery rash had spread to several neighboring communities.  Rumors of a possible epidemic spread in the community.  As names of the afflicted were mentioned, Libby’s smile seemed to get larger.   The numbers were staggering.  Eugene was a busy guy and apparently many ladies thought he was irresistible.

Eugene was struggling with the discomfort and decided that he would purchase new undergarments that were softer or forgo undergarments until he felt better.   The discomfort he felt was almost unbearable. The decision to purchase new undergarments was a turning point in the potential epidemic.   Eugene’s rash slowly improved and those that had been exposed to Eugene’s rash slowed improved too. 

The medical community was relieved. It was believed that the epidemic was almost over.     

Eugene decided that he would get his laundry done by one of his many girlfriends, rather than go to Libby.  After all, one of his younger lady friends, whose appearance seemed more pleasing to Eugene, would give Eugene the opportunity to spend more time with her.  This decision pleased Libby.  

Eugene never figured out that his rash was caused by Libby’s fiberglass curtains.

Most of the family thought Libby was too good for Eugene and after the incident with the fiberglass curtains and the rash, we also felt like Libby was too smart for Eugene.    We also felt like the mystery rash was the perfect crime. 

Libby relocated to heaven in 2018 and took the secret of the mysterious rash to her grave.  Several of the ladies in my family believed that Libby was a genius.  I agree.    She has become a legend. She is one of the strong women in my family who managed to get over some of life’s challenges in a creative way. 
​
Today we still celebrate our family of strong women.  The ladies in my family meet life’s difficult challenges with the resources that they have on hand.   It certainly keeps life interesting.   
                                                                                                          

​The Cross 
​By Nicole Lightbown 

Where Jesus was nailed to 
Saving us from sin 
Giving us life to breathe in 
Sacrificing everything so that we may live eternally 
Being a farther in heaven 
Accepting are mistakes 
Loving us unconditionally 
Jesus wept for us 
Jesus was beat for us 
Nailed through the hands to the cross 
Jesus never once complained 
Yet us humans do so much complaining and make excuses in life 
But do you see Jesus doing that for us
Jesus loves us and will always love us 
Humans in life just think of life how Jesus wants us
Instead of causing battles that ant worth the fight 
Jesus should be the reason to be alive and to die and go to heaven 
We don't chose life right we need to follow God 
Satan loves to pick into people's life and cause issues 
But Jesus is not like or anything of Satan 
So chose your higher power 
Stick to doing the good and not wrong 
The cross 
Is something I wrote intentions of showing 
That God is mighty and powerful 
God Didn't allow bad things to happen to just happen 
There is a reason behind everything 
Realize I am one of many that without Jesus I would not be here to this day 
I'm a survivor of so many that without Jesus I would not be here this day 
I live to tell it 
And show the world and let them know the good will occur for you 
All you have to do is believe 

Trauma Based 
​By Nicole Lightbown 

There is trauma in everyone 
No matter who you are 
It's up to you to make it through 
You push through emotions 
Be yourself and believe in who you are 
Take that anxiety and let it go in positive way 
Your trauma is your motivation 
To be determined and motivated 
Think your thoughts clearly 
It's a change you become to realize it has to occur
Your thoughts are powerful 
Through Jesus things can and will be better 
These emotions im working through will become lighter weight 
It's become I need to get better and strive to do better 
Love and accept who you are 
Those ugly thoughts will be stripped away to positivity 
My heart isn't going to be held down with a extra weight 
Depression isn't going to be having crying spells 
It's me that waking up to five senses 
Grounding techniques to use 
This life is mine is worth living for 
Wake up Nicole 
Who are you today 
And the rest of eternity 
Who do you serve day in and day out 
Do you do what's best for you 
Or are wasting time on useless things 
Please wake up to the life your in
You are strong 
You are talented in many areas 
You have potential 
Your beautiful and loving 
Accept who you are 
The good and bad and ugly 
You are much more than what you think 
Change your perspective in life 
Think about your family 
Set an example for them 
Be leaders of the light 
You are the leaders to others 
Don't follow the path of darkness 
You don't need or want to die 
You struggle through pain and stress 
You got this though 
Your going to set through the world 
Fight these emotions and demons 
And show the world who's boss 
Your voice is meant to be heard along with others 
Go show who you are and what you need others to see 

​

​Who Am I 
​By Nicole Lightbown 

You may wonder in your own eyes 
Take a gander if you must cause I grew up to soon 
I'm the girl crying to be loved 
Yet I'm 35 now learning myself and life 
I have talents everyday I use 
I'm a woman struggling but managing through 
Living life as woman with disabilities isn't always easy 
The outside world downgrades us 
My passion is through helping others 
Yet helping myself is first 
Go forward and make my own dreams come true 
It's anxiety and stress that's complicated 
Time to accept things 
I'm emotionally damaged 
Too much hurt 
To the point suicide ideation has come through 
Cutting was apart of me 
Not no more now
Depression has defined me too long 
It's has been a struggle to get out of the vicious cycle 
My heart and soul is traumatized by me and others 
Why I continue is cause I'm use to being hurt 
I fear to change but don't lower to a level that is not meant 
I'm scared to be me but why 
Is this me trying to do better 
Or am I stalling 
DO you know what's causing the turmoil
Nicole has potential to move forward 
When my mindset is right I'm beautiful and powerful 
Deep down I'm not I'm not a harm or a regret 
That's what others think 
It's what I think that matters 
I'm still growing to bloom 
I'm powerful when I'm ready to use it 
I love myself but it's a process to get better 
Nicole is young brave smart and beautiful and talented 
She is kind hearted 
She loves unconditionally 
I struggle to 
But knowing I'm my heart I will get better 
Fight the battles. And stay strong 
It's not about anyone else 
It's up to you 
Your own choices to do better 
You got this little nickel