Madison Public Library and Forward Madison FC announced six young Madison writers as the winners of their second annual We Read Youth Voices Writing Contest. All 142 submissions from kids ages 5 to 18 were carefully reviewed by a panel of community judges.
Three overall winners were selected and presented with Forward Madison FC gear at a match on August 12. Grand Prize Winner Diyah Dhawal (pictured above, right), 15, will receive $500 from Madison Public Library Foundation for The War of a Million Years. Runners-up Hazel Krueger (pictured above, left), 11, for The Strength to Move Forward, and Eliza Thwing (pictured above, middle), 13, for Time, will each receive $250.
All three winners will also have the opportunity to attend a Young Writers Camp of their choice from the Greater Madison Writing Project next summer. Winners for three age groups (13–18, 10–12, and 9 and under) were also recognized. Monona Faasuamalie (13) for She, Ronav Vasanth (10) for Together We Move, and Olivia Lubcke (9) for Upside Down will each receive $100 from the foundation.
Later this fall, 52 submissions to the contest will be published both digitally and in print in the We Read Youth Voices Anthology. The print version will be available at all nine library locations. The Wisconsin Book Festival will also recognize these young writers on Saturday, October 21, at its four-day Fall Celebration.
The foundation is proud to support efforts to promote literacy and creativity among young local writers.