| ||||||
This year's top three prize winners are:
1st Place: Kaylin Chang, Bright as the Sun
2nd Place: Emma Wong, Jin's Gift
3rd Place: Holly Carysforth, East
The following were awarded honorable mentions for their commendable entries:
Carson Blair The Gift
Kaia Bonham Bea
Josslyn Grover Song of Life
Pateel Haroupian The Monarch
Butterflies Plead for Our Help
Indie Lee A Well of Memories
Jewel Mendiola The Gift
Hana Shukairy The Everlasting Break
Elise Vansant Four Words
Jason Wagner The Gift of Immigrants
Jialei Zhang Home at Last
The first, second, and third-place recipients received cash prizes of $250, $125, and $75, respectively. The Honorable Mention recipients received gift certificates to Orinda Books.
While Youth Ink writers are normally celebrated at a springtime awards ceremony, given the circumstances of the global pandemic, an in-person ceremony was not possible this year. The Orinda Junior Women's Club thanks all of the entrants for sharing their talents and is also very thankful to its Youth Ink volunteer judges, who thoughtfully provided time and expertise in reading each entry and contemplating this year's winners among a stellar pool of entries. This year's judges were Sally Bolger, Cynthia Leslie-Bole, Michelle Meyers and Colleen Weems.
The following community sponsors enabled the Orinda Junior Women's Club to offer this year's Youth Ink writing contest to Orinda middle schoolers with their financial support: Friends of the Orinda Library, The Intuitive Writing Project, Lamorinda Arts Council and Orinda Community Foundation.
Emma Wong recorded a video of herself reading her winning entry, Jin's Gift. The video can be seen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emNJkCRcExs&t=6s .
Reach the reporter at:
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA