Newtown Literary Alliance is proud to announce the winners of the 2016 Queens Young Authors and Poets contest, prose division.
Grades 3-5
First Place: Elisa Y. Chang, Fresh Meadows (Grade 4 at PS 115) – “We’ve Got Together”
Second Place: Deanna Lagos, Bayside (Grade 4 at PS 159) – “Cowboy Billy”
Grades 6-8
First Place: Lyrikah Rodrigues, Bellerose (Grade 8 at MS 172) – “Carvings in the Graveyard”
Second Place: Tasnia Hossain, Floral Park (Grade 8 at MS 172) – “What’s up with Us?”
Third Place: Arjun Chhabra, Queens Village (Grade 6 at MS 172) – “Why It Rains”
Grades 9-12
First Place: Abril Rodriguez, Elmhurst (Grade 11 at William Cullen Bryant High School) – “My Journey with the Wind”
Second Place: Robert Cornal, East Elmhurst (Grade 10 at Civic Leadership Academy) – “Whiskey over Milk”
Third Place: Charlene Frias, Fresh Meadows (Grade 11, Queens Gateway to Health Sciences High School) – “The Galaxies of Them”
Honorable Mention: Leslie Altamirano, Elmhurst (Grade 11, William Cullen Bryant High School) – “The Tale of a Flyaway Leaf”
The contest was judged by about two dozen Queens writers, with the final selections made by Newtown Literary Poetry Editor Stephanie Davis.
The first place winners in each of the categories above will be printed in Issue 8 of the journal, due out in June. We are working on securing a time and venue for the awards ceremony, also in June, to which all of the winners will be invited to read their work and celebrate their accomplishment. (They will receive a separate email with the details of the awards ceremony in the weeks ahead.)
Congratulations to all the winners. To those who did not win, we sincerely hope this will not deter you from continuing your writing. The world needs to hear from the youth of Queens!
Readers, mark your calendars:
- Be a part of Queens Writes Weekend 2016! We are looking for volunteer Site Captains to lead writing events the weekend of May 13 to 15. For more information, or to sign up, see here.
- Join us as we kick off Queens Writes Weekend on May 13 at 7 p.m. at the Queens Museum. The event will be hosted by Tim Fredrick and feature readings by Matthew Callan, KC Trommer, David Mills, Sokunthary Svay, Leona Godin, and others.
- Meet the editors! Come to Terraza 7 on May 15 at 5:30 p.m. to meet the editors and staff of Newtown Literary as part of Queens Writes Weekend.
- Show off what you wrote during Queens Writes Weekend during our Closing Reading and Open Mic on May 15 at 7 p.m. at Terraza 7.
- Delve deep into your personal writing as Heightening Stories presents the Personal Prose
workshop, starting June 2. Enrollment is open until May 26. - Join Heightening Stories for The Diversity Writing Project workshop starting June 4. Register by May 31.
- Want to give your writing a kick in the pants? Heightening Stories presents the Jumpstart Your Writing online workshop starting June 5. Register by May 31.
- The Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning is calling for artists to apply for a free one-month residency. For more information, and to apply, check out the JCAL website. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Newtown Literary 