MISSOULA, Mont. – Outdoor Writers Association of America awarded 12 Norm Strung Youth Writing Award prizes totaling $1,700, sponsored by the Safari Club International Foundation.
The annual contest has categories for poetry and prose in two divisions: junior (grades 6-8) and senior (grades 9-12), and entries must be outdoors oriented and previously published in a newsletter, newspaper, magazine, literary collection, or similar publication. First-place winners in all categories received $250, second-place winners received $125 and third-place winners received $50. This year’s winners are:
Junior Poetry
First place: “Atop a Mountain in the Alaskan Wilderness,” by Drew Kluthe; Bemidji, Minnesota (Northern Community Radio)
Second place: “Reincarnation,” by Gabriella C. Eck; Jasper, Indiana (2013 Letters About Literature Anthology: Winning Letters & Poems from Young Hoosier Writers)
Third place: “Respect for the Hunt,” by Marais Houser; Esko, Minnesota (Minnesota Outdoor News)
Senior Poetry
First place: “Father and Daughter Bonding,” by Alexis Dietz; Zanesville, Ohio (Ohio Outdoor News)
Second place: “Those Weekends,” by Brenna Walton; Champlin, Minnesota (Minnesota Outdoor News)
Third place: “Leaking,” by Alexandra Palocz; Weston, Massachusetts (The Current, Weston High School Literary Magazine)
Junior Prose
First place: “When 9.9 Horsepower is Close Enough,” by Liz Weiers; New Prague, Minnesota (Minnesota Outdoor News)
Second place: “My First Buck,” by Luke Morrison; Albert Lea, Minnesota (Minnesota Outdoor News)
Third place: “Heart of the Hunter,” by Carol Gregoire; Lakeville, Ohio (Ohio Outdoor News)
Senior Prose
First place: “Rapid Recovery,” by Henry Gregson; Moscow, Idaho (The Spokesman-Review)
Second place: “Our Special Treestand,” by Paige Szarowski; Dillsburg, Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Outdoor News)
Third place: “First Bird Signals a Great Day of Duck Hunting,” by Joshua Rollins; Hermantown, Minnesota (Minnesota Outdoor News)
Winning entries from this year’s contest will be printed in the December/January issue of Outdoors Unlimited, OWAA’s official trade publication.
The deadline for next year’s entries is March 16, 2015. For complete contest rules and more information, visit http://old.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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