Winners of the Book Week 2012 Writing Contest
TORONTO ~ May 9, 2012 — The Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) is excited to announce the winners of the Book Week 2012 Writing Contest for Kids & Teens. The national contest is a much-anticipated part of TD Canadian Children’s Book Week — the largest celebration of Canadian books for young people in Canada.
The winner from each grade will receive a $250 gift certificate for the bookstore of his or her choice. Two honourable mentions from each grade category will also receive $50 gift certificates.
The WINNERS of the Book Week 2012 Writing Contest are:
GRADE 4:
Sam Daly of St. Albert, Alberta for Ode to Waluigi
GRADE 5:
Simon L. Navarrete of West Vancouver, BC for Nanobots
GRADE 6:
Sydney Glover of Winnipeg, Manitoba for Waiting
GRADE 7:
Emily Nieuwenhuis of Brantford, Ontario for The New World
GRADE 8:
Zoë Huyge of Walsingham, Ontario for Missing Pieces
GRADE 9:
Kelty Slaney of Kelowna, BC for Afternoons with Donald
GRADE 10:
Calvin Chen of Markham, Ontario for Father’s Last Temptation
GRADE 11:
Mannela Mora of Surrey, BC for Thin
GRADE 12:
Sarah Gorman of Hamilton, Ontario for The Final Awakening
The HONOURABLE MENTIONS of the Book Week 2012 Writing Contest are:
GRADE 4:
Kirsten Favreau of Keewatin, Ontario for My Great Grandma
Matthew Pauls of La Riviere, Manitoba for I Love Flight
GRADE 5:
Hannah Nie of Toronto, Ontario for The Devil’s Key
Julia Wiseman of Hamilton, Ontario for Alphabet Alliteration
GRADE 6:
Erik Goodmansson of Winnipeg, Manitoba for The Water Bottle
Konner Coughlin of Miscouche, PEI for My Friend Jimmy
GRADE 7:
Quinn Fotheringham of Vancouver, BC for Long Shadows
Maya Schwartz of Winnipeg, Manitoba for The Window Gazer
GRADE 8:
Nicholas Gessner of Kelowna, BC for August 6th, 1503, City of Rome
Joseph O’Krafka of Richmond, BC for Ode to the Golden Age
GRADE 9:
Aliyah Wasmuth of Sonningdale, Saskatchewan for Doors
Colby Dillon-Voudrach of Fort Smith, Northwest Territories for Tuktu (Caribou) Hunting on the Frozen Tundra
GRADE 10:
Erin Wilson of Greely, Ontario for Sirens
Erica Navickas of Calgary, Alberta for her untitled poem
GRADE 11:
Sophie Bartlett of Torbay, Newfoundland for Harmony
Kanika Lawton of Maple Ridge, BC for The Written Promise
GRADE 12:
Natasha Tal of Victoria, BC for Les Ponts et les Portes du Paris
Dongik Kim of Calgary, Alberta for An Apple Tree
In honour of TD Book Week’s theme — Read a Book, Share a Story — Canadian students in Grades 4 to 12 were asked share their best stories or poems. Young writers from all across Canada were eager to share their stories. The CCBC received stories from Prince Edward Island to Saskatchewan to the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in the north! The response this year was overwhelming and the CCBC received over two thousand submissions this year — four times the amount received last year.
Nine Canadian children’s authors donated their time and expertise to judge submissions from young writers all across the country.The judges for the Book Week 2012 Writing Contest are:
Sheryl McFarlane, author of Waiting for the Whales, from Victoria, BC
Sharon Jennings, author of Home Free, from Toronto, Ontario
Jessica Scott Kerrin, author of the Martin Bridge series, from Halifax, Nova Scotia
Sylvia Gunnery, author of Emily for Real, from LaHave, Nova Scotia
Richard Scrimger, author of The Nose from Jupiter series, from Cobourg, Ontario
David Poulsen, author of Last Sam’s Cage, from Claresholm, Alberta
Sylvia McNicoll, author of crush. candy. corpse., from Burlington, Ontario
Lori Weber, author of If You Live Like Me, from Pointe-Claire, Quebec
Arthur Slade, author of The Hunchback Assignments, from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
The Book Week 2012 Writing Contest is a wonderful opportunity for young writers, says, Grade 7 judge Sylvia Gunnery:
“When the box of grade 7 entries arrived at my door, I was happy to see there were so many young people across Canada who were keen to share their writing and take on the challenge of the writing contest. The box was heavy! Almost three hundred grade 7 students had entered the contest: short stories, poetry, fantasy fiction, fables, and more. As I did my first read-through to make the initial selections, I was reminded of the importance of giving young writers this opportunity to have their voices heard outside the comfort zone of the classroom and to have their writing read by professional authors. Whether an entry is judged as a winner or not, every student has had a very significant writing experience. Then, in the final stages of the judging process when the job of selecting gets even tougher, it’s inspiring to consider and reconsider those details of the writing that show the depth of thought and the skills students have to create compelling fiction and poetry. Congrats to all the writers who took part!”
The Book Week 2012 Writing Contest is generously sponsored by Amazon.ca, HarperCollins Canada and Simon and Schuster Canada.
For more information, please contact:
Shannon Howe Barnes
Program Coordinator
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre
Tel: 416.975.0010 x 227
shannon@bookcentre.ca
