Annual High School Writing Contest

30th Annual High School Writing Contest

Prizes in Each Category
1st-$100       2nd-$50       3rd-$25
All Finalists will receive a Certificate of Honorable Mention
All Winners will be considered for publication in Venture, Rider’s literary magazine

Categories

• ESSAY:  Write a personal essay, labeled ESSAY, on a topic of your choice of no more than five double-spaced, typed pages.
• FICTION:   Write a short story, labeled FICTION, of no more than five double-spaced, typed pages.
• POETRY:   Write a poem of no more than 50 lines.    

Rules

1. Type on the entry:     
   Your Name and address
   Grade
   Teacher’s Name 
   School Name and address
   
2. Include a letter from a teacher stating that the work is original and by you. 
   
3. Entries must be typed.  Handwritten entries will not be read.  Stories and essays must be double-spaced.  Single-spaced prose will not be read.  Please give your story, essay and or poem a title. 
   
4. Only one entry per category will be considered.  Choose your best writing and send only one. 
   
5. Mail your entry postmarked no later than December 18, 2009 to:
    Dr. Robbie Clipper Sethi
    English Department
    Rider University
    2083 Lawrenceville Road
    Lawrenceville, NJ  08648

Entries cannot be returned.  Winners will be announced in April, 2010. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope if you wish to receive a list of winners.
GOOD LUCK!

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29th Annual High School Writing Contest Winners                    

Poetry

• 1st Prize  “Gacy, to his Father” by Kelly Laughlin, Towson High School, Towson, MD, Mr. William Jones, 12th grade
• 2nd Prize “And At  Butovo” by Samantha Berstler, Villa Walsh Academy, Morristown, NJ, Mrs. Julieann Oliveros, 11th grade
• 3rd Prize “failed thesis” by Clara Fannjiang, Oliver Wendell Holmes Junior High, Davis, CA, Mr. Albert Fannjiang, 9th grade
• 3rd Prize “Spider Web” by Kim Baker, Upper Dublin High School, Fort Washington, PA, Mrs. Mary Jane Lyons, 11th grade
• Honorable Mention
  “Silken Jetsam” by Stephanie Wang, Roslyn High School, Roslyn Heights, NY, Mr. Joseph Capozzi, 12th grade
  "Chromatic Armageddon” by Olivia Moore, Madison High School, Madison, NJ, Mrs. Carole Breheny, 11th grade
  “Phantoma” by Erik Yankowsky, Northern Highlands Regional High School, Allendale, NJ,  Ms. Svea Barrett, 12th grade
  “Pain” by Kristen Witkowski, Northern Highlands Regional High School, Allendale, NJ, Ms. Svea Barrett, 12th grade
  “A Majestic Travesty” by Myron Fleming, Towson High School, Towson, MD, Mr. William Jones, 12th grade
  “Memories are Just as Flammable as Gasoline” by Patrick Crane, Rockville High School, Vernon, CT, Mrs. Victoria Nordlund, 12th grade 
  “Lunchtime Sonnet X” by Harry Robinson, The American Academy, Philadelphia, PA, Dr. Sharon Traver, 10th grade
  “Sand” by Ryann Bartoletti, Burgettstown Junior/Senior High School, Burgettstown, PA, Mrs. Ann Marler, 11th grade

 Essay

• 1st Prize “Nine or Ten Things I Know About Myself” by Eleanor Franzen, Charlottesville High School, Charlottesville, VA, Ms. Patricia Vandever, 12th grade
• 2nd Prize “Ten Steps to Living Mediocrity” by Abi Vaskain, Whippany Park High School, Whippany, NJ, Ms. Melissa Casciano, 11th grade
• 3rd Prize “Something Happened That Year When Santa Became Unreal” by Annie Legnini, Preston High School, Bronx, NY, Dr. Robert Vellani, 12th grade
• Honorable Mention 
  “Army of One” by Christopher W. Abrams, Western Albemarle High School, Crozet, VA, Mr. William Guerrant, 12th grade
  “A Stone Wall” by Farrah Alkhaleel, Monmouth Regional High School, Tinton Falls, NJ, Ms. Theresa Ciccone, 11th grade
  “Samantha Brantley” by Elaina Donofrio, Rockville High School, Vernon, CT, Mrs. Victoria Nordlund, 12th grade
  “Wouldn’t Smell as Sweet” by Sophi Glazycheva, Germantown Academy, Fort Washington, PA, Dr. Drewniany, 12th grade 
  “Personal Essay” by Nancy Guevara, Westbury High School, Old Westbury, NY, Mrs. Kathleen Totman, 12th grade
  “Driven Away: Drivers Ed with Boris” by Jessie Krebs, Towson High School, Towson, MD, Mr. William Jones, 11th grade 
  “Red, White, and Feeling Kind of Blue” by Yahui Liang, John P. Stevens High School, Edison, NJ, Mrs. Patricia D’Alessio, 10th grade 
  “Glued” by Alexis Parisi, Madison High School, Madison, NJ, Mrs. Anne Dwyer, 12th grade 
  “Tick’d Tock’d Belly Howl’s” by Virginia M. Smith, High School for Creative and Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Mr. Dunphy, 12th grade
  “Jesus and his Boy-Toy” by Aaron Ullman, Great Neck North High School, Great Neck, NY, Mrs. Alyssa Lipton, 11th grade 
  “The First Friday in March” by Madinah Wilson, Gauger-Cobbs Middle School, Newark, DE, 8th grade

Fiction

• 1st Prize “Trish” by Jennifer S. Kim, Upper Dublin High School, Fort Washington, PA, Mrs. Ruth Favin, 12th grade
• 2nd Prize “After the Funeral” by Emily Higgins, Towson High School, Towson, MD, Mr. William Jones, 11th grade
• 3rd Prize “The Skirt and the Dress” by Rebecca Chowdhury, Stuyvesant High School, New York, NY,  Mr. Eric Grossman, 12th grade
• 3rd Prize “A Bird in the Hand, Worth Two in the Bush” by Melanie Lieberman, Rockville High School, Vernon, CT, Mrs. Victoria Nordlund, 12th grade
• 3rd Prize “Refraction” by Lindsey Pellino, Rockville High School, Vernon, CT, Mrs. Victoria Nordlund,12th grade