Surrey students recognized in Surrey Libraries 2023 Youth Writing Contest
The winners have been announced for the Surrey Libraries 2023 Youth Writing Contest, including students from Bayridge Elementary and Earl Marriott, École Salish, Fleetwood Park, Fraser Heights, Johnston Heights, Lord Tweedsmuir, North Surrey, Panorama Ridge, Queen Elizabeth, SAIL, Semiahmoo and Sullivan Heights secondary schools.
Surrey Libraries has picked the winners of the 2023 Youth Writing Contest, with several Surrey Schools students taking home two awards each for their writing talents.
Students from Bayridge Elementary, as well as Earl Marriott, École Salish, Fleetwood Park, Fraser Heights, Johnston Heights, Lord Tweedsmuir, North Surrey, Panorama Ridge, Queen Elizabeth, SAIL, Semiahmoo and Sullivan Heights secondary schools were among the winners, formally announced at an awards gala on Oct. 11.
Earl Marriott’s Lucy Prior took the top spot in Junior Poetry with To Conquer the Darkness and received an honourable mention in the Junior Short Story category with To Be Heard.
North Surrey Secondary’s Carolyn Hu, who was last year’s winner of the Senior Poetry category, defended her title with a new poem titled Carnage.
Lord Tweedsmuir’s Rishabh Gandhi placed first in the Junior Short Story category with Henry Wheeler while Semiahmoo’s Sharon Young topped the Senior Short Story category with Mother Tongue.
Fleetwood Park’s Hui Shwen Neo’s Once Upon a Time… took first place in the Comics category and Sullivan Heights’ Teagan Chow won the Random category with On Righting.
Earl Marriott and Johnston Heights tied for the most finalists, with each taking home two awards and one honourable mention.
The full list of winners and finalists is available here.
The annual writing competition for Surrey youth aged 12 to 18 has been running since 1987, serving as a platform for aspiring young writers to showcase their talent in the form of short stories, poems, comics, essays, screenplays and lyrics. It is organized by the youth library staff at Surrey Libraries and is supported by champion sponsors Khalsa Credit Union, Kwantlen Polytechnic University and the Surrey International Writers’ Conference.
The winning entries will be compiled in an anthology that will be available online, at Surrey Libraries branches, or on sale for $8 in early November.
2023 WINNERS
Junior Short Story
First Prize: Henry Wheeler by Rishabh Gandhi
Second Prize: The Throne by Feifan Wang
Third Prize: Altan's Revenge by Haider Athar Ansari
Honourable Mention: A Day in a Cat's Life by Jia Lu Hai
Honourable Mention: To Be Heard by Lucy Prior
Senior Short Story
First Prize: Mother Tongue by Sharon Yang
Second Prize: Childish Indulgence by Kristy Tran
Third Prize: It's Eating Me Alive by Alyana Amadeo
Honourable Mention: Conversations We Forget by Kirat Saran
Junior Poetry
First Prize: To Conquer the Darkness by Lucy Prior
Second Prize: An Ode to Childhood by Isabelle Fan
Third Prize: My Saviour by Landon O'Brien
Honourable Mention: Secrets by Eden Taillefer
Honourable Mention: Broken and Crumpled Up Flower by Alice Su
Senior Poetry
First Prize: Carnage by Carolyn Hu
Second Prize: brown sugar/the grandmothers by James Enns
Third Prize: Hidden by Ruby Parker
Honourable Mention: The Dictionary of Deception by Clary Chow
Honourable Mention: Porcelain Pity by Basma Mangat
Comics
First Prize: Once Upon A Time... by Hui Shwen Neo
Second Prize: The Death of a Hero by Sophia Ng
Third Prize: Nobody Would Remember My Name by Shenelle Villacorta
Honourable Mention: Love, Aro by Esther Park
Honourable Mention: Introvert by Annis Seo
Random
First Prize: On Righting by Teagan Chow
Second Prize: Rust (Driving Away) by Reagan Jaymes
Third Prize: rings, et al by May Chee
Honourable Mention: The Grinding Gear by Rehn Clyde Tan
Honourable Mention: Faith by Aadil Sood
