By Rachel R.,Teen Librarian
The 7th HEPL Teen Writing Challenge has concluded and three winners were chosen from the teen entries.
The Teen Writing Challenge was the idea of a student who shared it with the library’s Teen Advisory Board (TAB). The TAB loved the suggestion and felt it was a great opportunity for teen writers to share their creative writing. The Teen Writing Challenge was born!
For the Fall 2024 Teen Writing Challenge, teens were challenged to write an original short story in verse using any form of poetry they wanted
A panel of 14 judges made up of HEPL staff and teen volunteers on the Teen Advisory Board read through each short story and voted for their top three entries based on the guidelines of the contest. This was no easy task, as the teens’ entries were all so creative and impressive!
It was a close competition, with the top 3 switching placements multiple times, but the judges’ votes were tallied and the winners are…
1st Place: “Death by Season” by Niamh Estrera – Grade 9, Hamilton Southeastern High School
2nd Place: “Fables From Faraway” by Lucy Waterman – Grade 11, Homeschool
3rd Place: “Forgive and Forget” by Courtney Snider – Grade 9, Fishers High School
Each winner was able to choose a gift card from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Target, or Dunkin’. Congratulations to our winners!
I am extremely grateful to all the teen authors who entered their work for this contest. Writing can be very personal, and it takes bravery to share it with others. Thank you for letting us read your stories! Not only did you write creative and vibrant stories, but you did it with the added challenge of telling it through verse. Whether your story won or not this time, I hope you all will continue to write and share your talent in future writing contests!