By Laura Hoffman
The HEPL Adult Writing Challenge has concluded, and three winners were chosen out of ten entries from patrons.
The August 2023 Adult Writing Contest challenged patrons to write an original short story twisting one of their beloved classics. Some of the tales that were reinvented included Humpty Dumpty, Pied Piper, Rip Van Winkle, Alice in Wonderland, and Dracula.
A panel of five library staff judges read through each short story and voted for their top three submissions based on the guidelines of the contest. This was no easy task, as the entries were all so unique and impressive! I really don’t know how the judges could pick between all of them!
It was a very close competition, but the judges’ winning picks are…
1st Place: “Dream Piper” by Paulette Brooks, a retelling of Pied Piper
2nd Place: “Detective’s Twisted Tales” by Jessica Read, a retelling of 7 different stories (Rumpelstiltskin, Alice in Wonderland, Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Jack Be Nimble, and There Was an Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe)
3rd Place: “Lucy” by Anonymous, a retelling of Dracula (At the author’s request, this story will not be shared publicly.)
Each winner was able to choose a gift card from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Target, or Starbucks, AND they will receive a meet-and-greet with the three visiting authors for HEPL’s Books Build Bridges event on September 30. Congratulations to our winners!
Thank you to all of the authors who entered their work for this contest. I had a fantastic time reading these stories, and I am grateful to have a community willing to share their stories. It takes bravery to share our writings with others, so thank you for letting us read them! Many of the judges commented on how creative the entries were and that they had a lot of fun reading the stories. I hope you all will continue to write and share your talent in future writing contests!
If you have an idea or suggestion for a our next writing challenge, send it in to adultquestions@hamiltoneastpl.org!