FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 10, 2015
Media Contact:
Gina Hyams, PR Consultant
413-464-2851
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Spencertown Academy Arts Center Announces Teens’ Short Story Contest Winners
Spencertown, New York—Spencertown Academy Arts Center is pleased to announce the winners of its first-ever Teens’ Short Story Contest, selected by judge Lauren Oliver, a New York Times bestselling young adult novelist. The contest was open to Berkshire and Columbia County teenaged writers in grades 9 through 12. The top three winners received cash prizes ($100, $75, and $50 respectively) and were invited to read their stories at the 10th annual Festival of Books over Labor Day weekend.
Carrie Babigian of Sheffield, MA, won first place for “Day One.” She is a senior at Berkshire School. Oliver said the piece was “a perfect example of how a ‘small’ specific story can feel rich with detail and specific character observations.”
Ruby Lamond of Philmont, NY, won second place for “Solitude and Solace.” She is a sophomore at Berkshire Waldorf School. Oliver noted, “The pain of this story felt so real. I loved the very specific details peppered in throughout the whole piece.”
Samantha Reagan of Medway, MA, won third place for “Peter Pans Are Rare.” She is a senior at Berkshire School. Oliver said, “The author did a wonderful job building tension throughout the story. [The character] Mark totally creeped me out!”
Honorable mentions went to Pearl Elsbach of Sheffield, MA, for “Short Story”; Lauren Stone of East Nassau, NY, for “And She Was Loved”; and Rebecca van der Meulen of New Lebanon, NY, for “Unknown Care.”
“We were absolutely delighted by the great variety and high quality of the story submissions,” said Jill Kalotay, co-chair of the Festival of Books. “The contest added another dimension to the Festival and to the Academy’s mission of supporting the arts. It’s so satisfying to be able to encourage and reward young creative writers this way.”
All of the winning stories are posted in full on the Academy’s website at https://spencertownacademy.org/events/teen-writing-contest.
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