Winners of the Write On! Fiction & Poetry Prizes!

I am so proud to announce the winners of our Write On! Fiction and Poetry Prizes! This was a highly competitive submissions period and we received so many excellent pieces from young writers all around the world. It was a tough decision for our judges! Congratulations to all of our winners and many thanks to everyone who entered. It was a pleasure to read your work!

You can read a selection of the winning entries published on Word Smorgasbord literary journal.

More exciting news: the Write On! Youth Drama Prizes for short plays are currently underway! Learn more and submit your work here!

And now, without further ado...

Write On! Fiction Prize

Ages 12 & under

Gold: Suntali Donahue, “The Dream Portal”
Silver: Alex Zhong, “Hawk and Willow”
Bronze: Ada Sheeran, “Survivors”

Honorable Mention:

• Logan Chan, “The Fox and The Owl: A Tale of Cleverness” 
• Benjamin Webb, “The Three Little Figs: A Fairytale Adaptation"

Ages 13-18

Gold: Victoria Saltz, “Escape”
Silver: Anjali Zyla, “The Merry-Go-Round”
Bronze: Andrew Huang, “The Crash”

Honorable Mention:

• Sydney Anderson, “The Little Blue Dragon” 
• Aidan Chisholm, “Steps” 
• Vichar Lochan, “You” 
• Kanchan Naik, “To Mourn a Flower” 
• Daisy Wang, “Five Years Later: Bitter Is The Night”

Write On! Poetry Prize

Ages 12 & under

Gold: Macy Li, “One in a Million”
Silver: Elisabeth Baer, “Purple Moon”
Bronze: Samitha Nemirajaiah, “Whisper, Trees”

Honorable Mention:

• Rosalie Chiang, “Dear Mom” 
• Anika Johnson, “Take Care, Take Care” 
• Luca Pasquini, “I am from…” 

Ages 13-18

Gold: Cameron Moore, “Teach Your Kids to Swim”
Silver: Kanchan Naik, “Summer Angel”
Bronze: Cara Levicoff, “An Exposé on Time”

Honorable Mention:

• Marina Baker, “Growing Pains” 
• Michelle Bless, “Falling Down” 
• Sam Jacovitz, “Butterfly Effect” 
• Sameed Sayeed, “Tomorrow Never Came"

Congratulations again to all of our winners -- it is my extreme pleasure and delight to share your work with the world! And thank you again to everyone who entered our contest and opened your minds, hearts and imaginations to our judges. We hope you go forth and create more marvelous writing to share with the world!

"Write with passion. Write with love." -Ray Bradbury

Write On! Youth Fiction and Poetry Prizes

Ten years ago, I held the first Write On! Summer Writing Camp for young writers. In the years since: 

• Summer Writing Camp has expanded to two summer weekends with sessions in both the morning and afternoon. 
• I now also offer a Winter Writing Camp. 
• Dozens of students are enrolled in my yearlong Guided Mentorship program. 
• I have been honored to teach hundreds of young writers. 

Many of my students have gone on to publish their work and win writing contests; many have become editors for their high school newspapers and literary magazines; some have even gone on to study Creative Writing and Journalism in college! I am so proud of every single one of the young writers I have had the privilege to meet and teach in the past decade. All these years, one thing has remained the same: my belief in the magic of unleashing your creativity through writing.

Exciting news! In celebration of the 10th Annual Summer Writing Camp—held this year in Ventura, California, on August 15, 16, 19, and 20—I am holding the first ever Write On! Youth Fiction and Poetry Prizes for young writers ages 18 and under!

You can win prize money, books, a free coaching call with me… and you might even become a published writer! Read below for the rules and submission procedures. I can’t wait to read your work!

Prizes in all categories are: 

• First place: $50, a free 30-minute coaching call with me, a signed copy of my book of short stories 3 a.m., and publication of your work on Word Smorgasbord online literary magazine
• Second place: $25, a signed copy of 3 a.m., and publication of your work 
• Third place: a signed copy of 3 a.m. and publication of your work 
• Finalists: publication of your work 

Contest Rules: 

1. This contest is judged BLIND, which means no identifying information should be on your entry. You will submit your name, age and contact information through the submission form. If your name is included on your entry, it will be disqualified. 
2. Word limit: fiction should be 1,000 words or less. Poetry should be 2 pages or less. 
3. There is a $10 entry fee for each piece, or you can submit 3 entries for $25. This helps fund the prizes and the administration costs of Submittable. You also have the option to purchase a copy of Dancing With The Pen II: a collection of today’s best youth writing at the special discounted price of $15, rather than its cover price of $25. 
4. You may submit as many entries as you would like, as long as you pay the entry fee for each piece you submit. 
5. The contest deadline is midnight Pacific Standard Time on Sunday, August 20, 2017 (the final day of this year’s Summer Writing Camp). 

 –> Click here to submit your work now! <–

I can't wait to read your wonderful, beautiful, amazing, brilliant, scary, funny, thrilling, heart-wrenching, goosebump-inducing, magical, lovely stories and poems! :)

Story Published & Nominated for Pushcart Prize

A *big* thanks to the editors at the Valparaiso Fiction Review for not only publishing my story "Jared Sampson's Mom" in their debut issue, but also nominating it for the prestigious Pushcart Prize! I feel honored, humbled, and very grateful for their support of my work.

Here is the opening of the story:

She died in a car crash yesterday. She was driving down Hawthorne, past the strip mall with the Benihana's, when her '05 Corolla unaccountably careened over the center meridian and into oncoming traffic.

"I just thought you should know, sweetheart," my mother says. My cell phone feels hot against my ear. "I know you and Jared were never close, but you did go all through school together. And Annette was such a lovely woman." My mother sighs loudly into the phone. "Only fifty-three. So young. I just can't believe it."

"Me neither."

"Maybe you could send Jared a message on that bookface thing."

I'm not Facebook friends with Jared Sampson. I haven't really spoken to Jared since eighth grade, when I asked him to dance at the semi-formal and he said, "Um—no thanks, I’m okay." That was the first time I wore mascara, and Jared was the first boy I cried over in a musty, cramped bathroom stall, and I unknowingly wiped mascara-tears all over the front of my new white dress.

"Yeah, Mom," I say now. "I'll do that."


You can read the rest of the story here.

Michael L. Printz Award Winners Announced

Looking for a good book? Look no further -- the 2011 Michael L. Printz Award Winners have been announced! This award was first given in 2000 and recognizes "literary excellence in young adult literature." It is named to honor Michael L. Printz, a school librarian from Topeka, Kansas who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association.

This year's winner is Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi.

Near a drowned New Orleans ravaged by hurricanes and global warming, Nailer and his young crew eke out a meager existence by scavenging materials on the ship-littered coast.

“This taut, suspenseful novel is a relentless adventure story featuring nuanced characters in thought-provoking conflicts. Bacigalupi artfully intertwines themes of loyalty, family, friendship, trust and love.” -- Printz Award Committee Chair Erin Downey Howerton.


Four Printz Honor Books were also named:

Stolen by Lucy Christopher 

The rugged Australian outback becomes Gemma’s prison after she is drugged and abducted by a handsome, obsessed stranger in a first novel filled with searing imagery and archetypal characters.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

Vera Dietz wants to be ignored, but the ghost of her ex-best friend won’t leave her alone in this dark comedy that examines relationships, identity, grief and flowcharts.

Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick

In Sedgwick’s grim, chilling story set in the Arctic Circle, Sig finds his father’s frozen corpse as human predator Wolff arrives seeking retribution and a hidden Gold Rush treasure.

Nothing by Janne Teller

Pierre Anthon’s nihilism causes his classmates to begin a search for life’s meaning in this bold, unsettling parable translated from Danish. 

Learn more at: www.ala.org/yalsa/printz

You can order the books here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=pe_125220_18258030_pe_004/?docId=1000467281

Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers

The seventh annual Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers is now accepting entries! The prize, which is open to high school sophomores and juniors throughout the world, is juried by David Baker, poetry editor of the Kenyon Review.

Close to 600 entries were received last year, with the winner, Anna Faison of Aiken, South Carolina, receiving a full scholarship to the Kenyon Review’s popular Young Writers summer workshop. The top two runners-up received partial scholarships to attend the summer workshop, and all three poets will be published in the Fall issue of The Kenyon Review.

Students are invited to submit one poem via an online submission system beginning November 1. Visit the Kenyon Review's website for a link to the contest submission page. The contest will close on November 30.

High school teachers are encouraged to pass along this information to sophomores and juniors.

Contest Looking for the Next Breakout Children's Book

Are you a secret storyteller? Now is the time to let your talent out in the open. The Times and Chicken House are on a mission to discover another great children's writer, whose book will be published around the world by Chicken House.

How to enter: Your full-length manuscript (no more than 80,000 words) must be received at The Chicken House by October 29, 2010. The address, submission criteria, terms and conditions and tips can be found at timesonline.co.uk/chickenhouse

The shortlist: The Chicken House reading team will select a shortlist of five entries, to be announced in February 2011. The judges will choose a winner from this shortlist, to be announced at Easter 2011.

The prize: The winner will be the entrant whose story, in the opinion of the judges, demonstrates the greatest entertainment value, quality and originality suitable for the children's age group. The prize is the offer of a worldwide publishing contract with Chicken House, with a royalty advance of £10,000.

The judges: Barry Cunningham, publisher, Chicken House. Julia Donaldson, author of The Gruffalo and Running on the Cracks. Amanda Craig, children's book critic, The Times. Neil Blair, partner at the Christopher Little Literary Agency. John McLay, literary scout and director of the Bath Literary Festival. Damian Kelleher, author, reviewer and children's media consultant. Rebecca Wilkie, Booktrust. The Waterstone's Children's Bookselling Team.

Additional rules: Entrants must be aged 18 or over. Entries must be the original work of the entrant and not previously published. The entrant must not have previously published any book in any country, whether fiction or nonfiction. The entry should be suitable for a children's audience aged between 9 and 16. Picture books and graphic novels will not be accepted and illustrations will not be considered. Before entering you must read the full terms and conditions at timesonline.co.uk/chickenhouse

Vote for Write On! to get a $1,000 grant for literacy!

Write On! For Literacy is one of thirty teams in the running for fifteen $1,000 prizes offered by Ralph Lauren through the Ashoka Youth Venture Program.

We need your help!

All you have to do is click on the link below, scroll down the list, and vote for Write On!

http://www.rugby.com/newsroom/blog_post.aspx?id=ace1f4b2-2cc6-44e3-b109-03cc94ea993e&cat=6d3287ed-c1e1-4d01-8717-544c4efbb8b9

If we are selected, the prize money will be used to purchase brand-new books to give to underprivileged kids through our annual Holiday Book Drive.

Thanks for your help! Tell all your friends! Voting ends JUNE 30th.

http://www.rugby.com/newsroom/blog_post.aspx?id=ace1f4b2-2cc6-44e3-b109-03cc94ea993e&cat=6d3287ed-c1e1-4d01-8717-544c4efbb8b9