Students from 13 high schools participated in the Tri-Valley Writers’ 10th annual High School Writing Contest this year. Winners received cash awards, and the first-place writing will be published in the club’s next anthology.
The winning young writers were honored at an award ceremony May 16, where they had the opportunity to read their entries as well as to honor their inspiring teachers.
“Writing has always helped me process my thoughts, and being able to share the more vulnerable sides of me through the Tri-Valley High School Writing Contest was a great opportunity,” said Ananya Iyengar, recognized for her entry in the nonfiction category. “This contest has helped me to not only develop my writing abilities but also learn how to improve my literary pieces from the judge’s detailed comments.”
Participation was the highest ever for this year’s contest, with 142 entries from 96 students. Judges chose from 21 literary nonfiction pieces, 79 poems, and 42 short stories.
Awards were given as follows:
Literary Nonfiction
First place: Angelina Ge (San Ramon Valley) for “The Inferior Complex”
Second place: Juliana Muegge (San Ramon Valley). for “Rebounding from COVID-19: The Strength of Community and What the Numbers Don’t Say”
Third place (tie): Ananya Iyengar (Dougherty Valley) for “My Disney Ending” and Jessica Baka (Foothill) for “Scar Story: Revisited”
Honorable mentions: Rohan Chandran (Monte Vista); Natalie May (Granada); Anusri Saraf (Granada); Risha Chakraborty (Dougherty Valley); Michelle Liu (Foothill); and Awva Bashiri (California)
Poetry
First place: Claire McNerney (Foothill) for “possum poem”
Second place: Amala Rao (Foothill) for “But for One Small Difference”
Third place: Christopher Pak (Granada) for “The Red Sea”
Honorable mentions: Musa Sayed (Dougherty Valley); Mikayla Marinko (Livermore); Sydney Gong (Dougherty Valley); and Angelina Ge (San Ramon Valley)
Short Story Fiction
First place: Emma Ka (Amador Valley) for “Floating Candles”
Second place: Miranda Duarte (California) for “I Love You for Sentimental Reasons”
Third place: Brian Guan (Dublin) for “The Hunter”
Honorable mentions: Meghan Boyle (California); Lisa Levinson (Dublin); Aiden Rim (Amador Valley); Setareh Salkhi (Monte Vista); Brenna McCord (Amador Valley); and Mia Garcia (Monte Vista)
The contest was also supported by the Alameda County Arts Commission.
For more information about the Tri-Valley Branch of the California Writers Club, visit www.trivalleywriters.org.
