The annual Lacroute Prizes in Poetry and Prose highlight the best student writing from across Linfield University. This year’s contest honors the work of nine students, including Élana Gatien, the Lacroute Prize in Poetry winner, and Jadey Holcomb, the Lacroute Prize in Prose winner. Gatien, originally from Albany, graduated from Linfield University in May with a degree in music and creative writing. Ae previously won of the Lacroute Prize in Prose in 2023 for “Tree, Raven, Hillside, Fire.” Holcomb of Salem recently completed her junior year at Linfield. She is majoring in creative writing. The winning entries, along with the work of all finalists, were published in the spring issue of Camas: A Journal of Art & Literature. The winners in each category also receive a $500 prize.
Creative writing faculty chose finalists from dozens of submissions, with final winners selected by acclaimed writers Justin Gardiner and Rose McLarney. The pair visited the Linfield University McMinnville Campus in the spring for a reading and classroom discussion. McLarney has four collections of poems, is co-editor of “A Literary Field Guide to Southern Appalachia” and the “Southern Humanities Review.” Gardiner is the author of three books, including the long-form lyric essay, “Small Altars.”
Lacroute Prize in Poetry
Winner: “Aubade for Feathered Dragons” by Élana Gatien ’25
“’Aubade for Feathered Dragons’ offers both the fantastic imagery of dreams and a celebration of the real place and time to which the speaker wakes. Its couplets — a form suited to a poem of pairings — are well-crafted and economical. Perhaps such clarity and coherence are inspired by the woman the poem praises, who is heading out to do practical work and whose wisdom makes what’s down to earth as wondrous as the author’s elevated language and lyricism.”
— Judge Rose McLarney
Finalists:
- “Shopping List for The End of the World” by Eleanor Black ’28
- “Aubade Featuring a Worm” by Madeline Chandler ’26
- “What Makes these Bones Bare” by Rowan Owens
- “Another” by Rowan Owens
- “Half Remembered, Mostly Embellished” by Julian Ortiz ’26
Lacroute Prize in Prose
Winner: “I Know the End” by Jadey Holcomb ’26
“Despite its title, ‘I Know the End’ kept me guessing at every turn. Its use of the second person immediately locks us into the narrative, especially when paired with so many keenly observed details — the reflection in the body of a guitar, an empty billboard, those 13 packs of playing cards. With each paragraph we feel more invested in the welfare of the featured character, and more trusting of the steady hand that guides us.”
— Judge Justin Gardiner
Finalists:
- “When the Birds Flew Away” by Sparrow Lancaster ’25
- “Fire and Smoke” by Faythe Lloyd ’26
- “The Achilles Mission” by Ethan Smith ’25
The Lacroute Prizes in Poetry and Prose are organized by the Creative Writing Program at Linfield University with generous support from the Lacroute Initiative for Advancing the Liberal Arts.
