2012 Young Writers Contest

2011 Writing Contest for Young Writers

Winners and their winning entries

Message from Maribeth

It means a great deal to us that you entered our annual “Young Writers Contest” this year. We had 96 entries from nine different states. Whether or not your work was selected by one of the nearly two-dozen people who read it and sent on to our final judges—know that we loved reading your words, getting your perspective on a tiny bit of the world. Thank you for giving us this chance, and please know that if it wasn’t selected… well, of course, it’s disappointing. We too understand this. As writers, we know well that rejection comes with the territory, and it always stings. Keep in mind, though, that this doesn’t mean the work isn’t worthwhile. For whatever reason, sometimes the right story or poem or essay just hasn’t found the right reader. What matters is the trying—the only chance your words have to reach others is for you to keep sharing them, keep sending them out. Again, we’re glad you did.

Thanks again for taking the time to enter the contest. Keep writing!
- Maribeth Fischer, Executive Director

2011 Writing Young Writers Contest Winners

Winners, ages 10-13

Winners, Ages 14-17

FICTION Age 10-13

First Place: An Everlasting Gift
Hannah Lowe, Age 13
Sussex Academy of the Arts and Sciences

Second Place: Sharing Strawberries
Kelly Hartwick, Age 13
Louis L. Reading Middle School

Third Place: Toho
Samantha Nizer, Age 13
Mountain View Middle School

NONFICTION Age 10-13 (judged by Sue Towers)

First Place: In One Moment
Shane Lally, Age 12
Home schooled (Lewes, DE)

Second Place: How to Scare a Hypocrite
Hannah Lowe, Age 13
Sussex Academy of the Arts and Sciences

Third Place:Pie, Flour and the Fourth of July
Hannah Lowe, Age 13
Sussex Academy of the Arts and Sciences

POETRY, Age 10-13 (judged by Anne Colwell)

First Place : I AM
Agnes MacLaren Patterson, Age 10
Milton Elementary School

Second Place: War and Grief
Hannah Lowe, Age 13
Sussex Academy of the Arts and Sciences

Third Place: I Found Myself
Lauren Thornberg, Age 12
Southern Delaware School of the Arts

FICTION Age 14-17

First Place: The Man Woke Up
Hannah Ingersoll
Conestega High School, Wayne Pennsylvania

Second Place: “The Sky’s the Limit
(Unless You’re Speeding!)”
Claire Stickler, Age 15
Worcester Preparatory School, Berlin, MD

NONFICTION, Ages 14-17

First place: The Greatest Blessing We Could Ever Imagine
Heather Finster, Age 14
St. Petersburg Catholic High School, FL

Poetry, Age 14-17

First Place: Sailing
Abigail Davis
Sussex Technical High School

Second Place: Freeze Frame
Julie Parsons, Age 14
Delmarva Christian High School

Third Place: Musical Chairs
Abigail Davis, Age 14
Sussex Technical High School