MISSOULA, Mont. – The Outdoor Writers Association of America awarded 12 Norm Strung Youth Writing Award prizes totaling $1,400.
The annual contest, sponsored by the Falcon Guides, has categories for poetry and prose in two divisions: junior (grades 6-8) and senior (grades 9-12) and the piece must be outdoor-oriented. First-place winners in all categories received $200, second-place winners received $100 and third-place winners received $50. This year’s winners are:
Junior Poetry
- First place: “The Forest,” by Srikar Sagili, Corvallis, Oregon
- Second place: “Haiku,” by Christine F. O’Donnell, Saginaw, Michigan
- Third place: “Row,” by Poem Schway, San Jose, California
Senior Poetry
- First place: “Wind Song,” by Riley Levine, Blauvelt, New York
- Second place: “Cross Country Girls,” by Madison Janke, Spokane, Washington (The Spokesman-Review)
- Third place: “The King,” by Max Hilker, Haslett, Michigan (Michigan Outdoor News)
Junior Prose
- First place: “Sharing the Heritage,” by Taylor Talley, Edmond, Oklahoma (Oklahoma Safari Trails)
- Second place: “Natural Nostalgia,” by Elijah Devin, Kirbyville, Missouri
- Third place: “Lone Wolf,” by Daryl Z. Bordelon, San Jose, California
Senior Prose
- First place: “Wave Upon Wave,” by Alexander Bartone, Georgetown, Maine
- Second place: “Two Birds with One Stone: A Lesson in Integrity,” by Ben Olson, Stillwater, Minnesota (Minnesota Outdoor News)
- Third place: “Bay in the Balance,” by Clara Benadon, Dickerson, Maryland
Winning entries from this year’s contest will be printed in the December/January issue of Outdoors Unlimited, OWAA’s magazine.
The deadline for next year’s entries is March 15, 2018. For complete contest rules and more information, visit https://owaa-oldsite.birchbarkmedia.com/programs/contests/norm-strung-youth-writing-awards.
The Norm Strung Youth Writing Contest was named after Norm Strung, who served as OWAA president in 1984-1985. Now deceased, Strung received OWAA’s Excellence in Craft award in 1989. In 1988, Strung was the Ham Brown recipient for service to OWAA. That same year, he organized and edited a book for OWAA titled “Selling the Outdoor Story.” He was also recognized as the Outstanding Board member in 1975.
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