Ottawa – And the winners are in! Young writers were honored yesterday on the main stage of Centrepointe Theatres at the 2017 awards ceremony for the Awesome Authors youth writing contest. Awards were handed out to young writers between the ages of 9 and 17 in the categories of poetry, short story, and ‒ new this year ‒ comics. The contest was held from December 2016 and February 2017 and included workshops with writing mentors that enriched this opportunity for kids and teens to explore the craft of writing.
The annual contest is sponsored by the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library Association (FOPLA). This year, an impressive 432 entries were received. Local authors Caroline Pignat, Catherine Austen, Sylvie Frigon, and Éric Péladeau judged the submitted works by young local writers.
“Awesome Authors encourages creativity and inspires continuous learning in our youth. I’m thrilled to see this contest expand in popularity and reach every year!” said Tim Tierney, Chair of the OPL Board and Councillor for Beacon Hill-Cyrville Ward. “I would like to give a special thanks to FOPLA for sponsoring Awesome Authors and for providing children and teens an opportunity to develop their creativity every year!”
Here is the list of winners, organized by writing category, including each winner’s name, the title of their winning work, their age, their school, and their standing.
POEMS
Ages 9 - 11
1st Place Maya Mohammed (Age 11), Dragons Vincent Massey Public School
2nd Place Poojithya Adikari (Age 10), A Round Sphere Stephen Leacock Public School
3rd Place Alyson Moncur-Beer (Age 11), We Remember Mutchmor Public SchoolHonourable Mention 1 Meredith Sy (Age 11), The Flâneur Académie Westboro Academy
Honourable Mention 2 Tabeeb Howlader (Age 10), I'm the reason, yet they forget Jack Donohue Public School
Honourable Mention 3 Jenan Faris (Age 10), Spirit of the Seasons Home School
Ages 12 - 14
1st Place Maleeka Ellaithy (Age 12), Keeping Hope Jack Donohue Public School
2nd Place Julia Dolansky-Overland (Age 13), The Child Greenbank Middle School
3rd Place Kaitlyn Chen (Age 13), The Epilogue Longfields Davidson Heights Secondary School
Honourable Mention 1 Robin Frauzel (Age 13), Wolf Moon St. Peter High School
Honourable Mention 2 Anna MacDonald (Age 14), Something Else John McCrae Secondary School
Honourable Mention 3 Vera Hadzic (Age 14), The Climb Colonel By Secondary School
Ages 15 - 17
1st Place Phuong Nguyen (Age 16), Our Home and Native Land Canterbury High School
2nd Place Elyse Gauthier (Age 17), Secret Agents École secondaire catholique Garneau
3rd Place Urooj Shah (Age 16), Revolutionaries Longfields Davidson Heights Secondary School
Honourable Mention 1 Belinda Xu (Age 16), Forever and always Earl of March Secondary School
Honourable Mention 2 Isabella M. Crysler (Age 15), Loveproof People Nepean High School
Honourable Mention 3 Shirley Zhu (Age 15), When Spring Comes Lisgar Collegiate Institute
SHORT STORY
Ages 9 - 11
1st Place Leeah Sullivan (Age 11), A Brother Lost Home School
2nd Place Khadeeja Rizwan (Age 11), Saved and Rescued Stephen Leacock Public School
3rd Place Allegra Bisaillon (Age 11), The Journey Mutchmor Public School
Honourable Mention 1 Evelyn Goddard (Age 11), Echo South March Public School
Honourable Mention 2 Dora Chen (Age 11), My True Self Elgin Street Public School
Honourable Mention 3 Roman Gorodkov (Age 11), Split Elgin Street Public School
Ages 12 - 14
1st Place Catherine Ma (Age 13), The Clockmaker Earl of March Intermediate School
2nd Place Joy Liu (Age 13), The Last Storytime Earl of March Intermediate School
3rd Place Olivia Simms (Age 13), Splotches Glashan Public School
Honourable Mention 1 Kate Calhoun (Age 14), At the Water's Edge South Carleton High School
Honourable Mention 2 Shannon Noah (Age 14), Disconnected Sir Wilfred Laurier
Honourable Mention 3 Bonnie Chin (Age 14), A Sky Full of Stars Colonel By Secondary School
Ages 15-17
1st Place Sandunya Nadugala (Age 16), Chasing Colour Longfields Davidson Heights Secondary School2nd Place Sarah Ham (Age 16), Deliverance John McCrae Secondary School3rd Place Elyse Gauthier (Age 17), Dissonance École secondaire catholique Garneau
Honourable Mention 1 Alexander J Dolansky-Overland (Age 16), Genesis 1:27: The Creator and the Creation Canterbury High School
Honourable Mention 2 Claire Keenan (Age 16), Bedsheets Nepean High SchoolHonourable Mention 3 Audreyann Albin (Age 15), Morality in Little Italy Longfields Davidson Heights Secondary School
COMIC
Ages 9 - 11
1st Place John Haas (Age 10), Cow and Chicken Bridlewood Community Elementary School
Ages 12 - 14
1st Place Grace Gao (Age 14), Antisocial media Colonel By Secondary School
Ages 15 - 17
1st Place Nourjehan Faris (Age 16), Teenage Logic Vol. #1 Independent Learning Centre
Honourable Mention Lila Ndinsil (Age 17), A child's typical day École secondaire publique Louis-Riel
Poésie
9 – 11 ans
1er prix Miriam Zdunich (Age 10), Le paon et la souris école élémentaire catholique Sainte-Geneviève
2e prix Chloé Bednar (Age 10), La salamandre et la tortue école élémentaire catholique Jean-Robert-Gauthier
3e prix Eva Brown (Age 11), Les saisons école élémentaire publique Le Prélude
12 – 14 ans
1er prix Schanez Mouhoubi (Age 13), Celle que je ne suis pas Hawthorne Public School
2e prix Kaitlyn Chen (Age 13), Éternité Longfields Davidson Heights Secondary School
3e prix Rebecca Kempe (Age 14), Un Nouveau Monde Canterbury High School
Mention honorable Allison Wang (Age 13), Perdu dans une danse Earl of March Intermediate School
15 – 17 ans
1er prix Nicolas Michaud (Age 16), Camembert École secondaire publique De La Salle
2e prix Allison White (Age 16), Mon nom École secondaire catholique Pierre-Savard
3e prix Lila Ndinsil (Age 16), À ceux qui m'ont aimé École secondaire publique Louis-Riel
NOUVELLE
9 – 11 ans
1er prix Virginie Balatchev (Age 11), Trois perles Lycée Claudel
2e prix Jenna Abu-Dieh (Age 10), L'ère est au doute École élémentaire publique de Kanata
3e prix Héloïse Lebel (Age 10), Les maths d'autrefois École élémentaire publique Francojeunesse
Mention honorable Sophie LeVasseur (Age 11), Le récit d'un soldat et l'expression du courage École élémentaire catholique Sainte-Geneviève
12 – 14 ans
1er prix Tallulah Blais (Age 13), La Pipe École secondaire publique De La Salle
2e prix Isabelle Guillemette (Age 12), L’île aux contrebandiers École secondaire publique De La Salle
3e prix Celina Lupson (Age 13), Ange École secondaire catholique Pierre- Savard
Mention honorable Alison Power (Age 14), La quête de soi École secondaire publique De La Salle
15 – 17 ans
1er prix Elissa El-Chami (Age 15), Quand il pleut Collège catholique Samuel-Genest
2e prix Sarah Ham (Age 16), Solitude John McCrae Secondary School
3e prix Maxine Montpetit (Age 16), Choc Collège catholique Franco-Ouest
BANDE DESSINÉE
9 – 11 ans
1er prix Amelia Mohring (Age 11), Le dessin de nous École élémentaire catholique Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau
Mention honorable Mimi England (Age 10), Monsieur marionnette École élémentaire publique Trille des Bois
12 – 14 ans
1er prix Clara Bolam (Age 12), La guerre de anime École élémentaire publique Le Prélude
15 – 17 ans1er prix Lila Ndinsil (Age 17), S'échauffer ou se réchauffer? École secondaire publique Louis-Riel
The winners’ works will be included this fall in pot-pourri, an anthology of short stories and poems published by FOPLA. To pre-order a copy of pot-pourri, visit the FOPLA website at OttawaPublicLibraryFriends.ca.
The Ottawa Public Library (OPL) is the largest bilingual (English/French) public library system in North America. The OPL extends public access to information and services through the library’s 34 branches, physical and virtual at www.BiblioOttawaLibrary.ca, as well as two mobile libraries and a vending machine-style lending library service. Serving close to one million Ottawa residents, OPL’s mission is to inspire learning, spark curiosity, and connect people. Follow us on Twitter www.Twitter.com/OPL_BPO and like us on Facebook www.Facebook.com/OPLBPO. Contact us at 613-580-2940 or InfoService@BiblioOttawaLibrary.ca. If it’s out there, it’s in here!
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