California Writers Club Young Writers Contest Winners!
Congratulations to all of the winners of this incredibly competitive contest! All entries were creative and talented works of art. Thank you for your participation!
Below you will find the winner’s name, their school, teacher and the title of their entry.
The Betty Tenney Memorial Essay/Personal Narrative Awards
6th Grade
1st Calia Ann Lockey
Walnut Creek: Jann Taylor-Geyer
“Three Words, One Meaning”
2nd Katelyn Downing
Pleasant Hill: Holly Latz
“What Is This?”
3rd Megha Bhargava
Windemere Ranch: Diana Kaplenko
“The Adventures in Cave Swimming”
7th Grade
1st Alexandra Desmedt
Walnut Creek: Jana Palmquist
“Unsilent Night”
2nd Lauren Russell
Windemere Ranch : Jeff Osborn
“Ready, Set, SHOT!”
3rd Karina Ting
Orinda: Cecilia Kilmartin
“A Lesson to Last”
8th Grade
1st Mia Stripling
Stanley: Donna Gallagher
“Confidence”
2nd Ahab Chopra
Dorris-Eaton: Melissa Parker
“Biking to a New Life”
3rd Emma Cottrill
Dorris-Eaton: Melissa Parker
“The Night My Life Changed Forever”
Poetry
6th Grade
1st Sasha Hassan
Windemere Ranch: Diana Kaplenko
“Midnight Wish”
2nd Rashmi Pradhan
Windemere Ranch: Diana Kaplenko
“A Song is Drowned”
3rd Sihyun Na
Windemere Ranch: Diana Kaplenko
“What Does it Feel Like?”
7th Grade
1st Jasmine Steele
St. Isidore: Amy Burgin
“Storybook”
2nd Rebekah Mangels
Homeschool
“Who Knows What I Think?”
3rd William Francis
Martinez: Anne Martin
“A Day’s Work as a Dishonest Man”
8th Grade
1st Ahab Chopra
Dorris-Eaton: Deeni Shoenfeld
“You Will Never Find Me”
2nd Meher George
Dorris-Eaton: Melissa Parker
“Carpe Diem”
3rd Kismat Dhaliwal
Dorris-Eaton: Melissa Parker
“An Unlikely Savior”
Short Story
6th Grade
1st Aaron Ouyang
Dorris-Eaton: Mary Dickens
“Secrets of the Bermuda Triangle”
2nd Sasha Hassan
Windemere Ranch: Diana Kaplenko
“Search and Rescue”
3rd Sasha Hassan
Windemere Ranch: Diana Kaplenko
“What is Right is not Always Popular, What is Popular is not Always Right”
7th Grade
1st Lucy Caitlin Shaw
Walnut Creek: Jana Palmquist
“The Escape”
2nd Ingrid Lam
PineValley: Dianna Longhery
“My Eyes”
3rd Alexandra Desmedt
Walnut Creek: Jana Palmquist
“The Caterpillar and the Worm”
8th Grade
1st Lauren Hui
Gale Ranch: Kimberly Carter
“House of the Rose”
2nd Emily Hui
PineValley: Sarah Gibbons
“Blue Skies”
3rd Julie Deng
PineValley: Susan Banks
“It All Proves Nothing”
Hi, do you know what time the award luncheon is at? My invitation didn’t have a time on it! Thanks, Lauren
11:00 a.m. Thank you for letting me know! Liz
Everyone loves it whenever people come together and share views.
Great website, continue the good work!
Thank you! Liz
Hi, I am one of the winners and I am wondering: what do we do at the banquet?
You will meet the other winners, adult writers, see all the winning manuscripts, play a game/quiz with them, eat a delicious banquet, hear a delightful published author speak (I hear he is also hysterical!) receive your awards and get your picture taken for the local newspaper. It’s fun! See you soon!
Hi, I am wondering about next year’s contest: are we allowed to resubmit entries that we have already entered in last year’s competition? Even winning entries? When will the submissions for next year’s contest start? Thanks!
Hi Alexandra – Great question! Thank you for writing. A winning entry from last year would not win the following. It would be disqualified, I’m sorry. (Yes, we do save them.) You may submit as soon as the new guidelines are posted. I’m hoping this will be soon. I do know there will be a new award for humor writing. I will post the guidelines as soon as I get the “A-Okay” to do so. Hope you’ll join our writing workshop at the Walnut Creek Library on Feb. 1, 2014. In the meantime, keep writing!
Thanks! I am excited to enter next year’s contest! But I have one more question: can we resubmit nonwinning entries or edited versions of them? Also, last year I thought it was kind of hard to write a story in 3 pages. Is it possible that the guidlines could change? For the humor category, what is the page limit?
Hey Alexandra – Your original question is so good I used it as a regular blog post. Yes, you can submit nonwinning entries BUT just use the theme and don’t look at your old entry. REWRITE IT FRESH. Revision is your friend! My bet is you are a better writer now. Make your reader experience emotion, or humor, or whatever you need. Check for action verbs, etc. If you are talking about 3 pages, then you have a personal narrative. It’s tough, but that is why you need to rewrite it. I once wrote a personal experience “down” from 1000 words to 300 – – and it was actually BETTER! It should be a writing exercise in every English classroom.
For short stories, we do allow more words to develop the story. Five pages. We have discovered the BEST stories are written “tightly.” Without any extra words. It is fine to ask your teacher for suggestions. Thanks again for writing! Would love to be your teacher! Liz