Three Indiana Daily Student staff members placed in the 2025 Thomas Keating writing competition. Managing editor Jack Forrest was first, news editor Natalia Nelson was third, and sports writer Max Schneider was a finalist.
Each year, students from colleges across Indiana send in samples of their feature writing. That pool is narrowed to 10 finalists who compete by writing a story on site in Indianapolis.
The event is sponsored by the Indianapolis Press Club Foundation and honors the memory of Keating who was a long-time writer for the Indianapolis Star. Keating was famous for his human interest stories,
This was the 39th year for the contest. On Saturday, Oct. 25, students were given the topic of the Irvington Halloween Festival, a annual popular event in Indianapolis's historic eastside neighborhood. They had just hours to turn in their stories.
Forrest is a junior studying journalism and international studies at Indiana University. He won a $3,000 scholarship for his first place story about a tarot card reader at the festival. Forrest is also an intern for the Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism at IU
“This entry does an excellent job of humanizing everyone in the story – from the tarot reader to her clients. We enjoyed the compelling storytelling and the detailed backstory of the tarot reader,” a judge said.
Nelson is a junior majoring in journalism with a Spanish minor who is also an intern for the Arnolt Center. For her third place story chronicling a tattoo parlor, a tarot card reader, and children at the festival, Nelson received a $1,000 scholarship.
“Each section of this entry was captivating and well written. The vivid details and color dropped us right into the heart of Irvington during the festival," a judge said of Nelson's piece.
IU's Max Schneider, a senior and journalism major, was also a finalist this year. His Keating story examined the importance of the festival to the Irvington community. Schneider covers women's basketball and high school football for the IDS.
Read this year's Thomas Keating contest stories on the IPCF site at https://indypressfoundation.org/keating-competition/.
