Contest Rules & Judging Criteria

Eligibility

The Contest is open to all Middle School and High School Students, grades 5-12, who live in New Castle and/or attend school in the Chappaqua Central School District. Middle school students in grades 5-8 and high school students in grades 9-12 are judged separately.

Rules and Judging Criteria

The competition is judged by a panel of professional writers and publishers. Criteria include creativity, style, originality, and correct spelling and grammar.

Each entry must not exceed 2,500 words.

You may submit a maximum of one piece in each of the 3 categories (Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry). For multiple submissions, submit a new application for each entry.

These entries may be any of your work, including school assignments, as long as:

• it was written when you were in 5th grade or older;

• you haven’t submitted it to this contest before;

• it has not won awards in any other contest.

Note: It is *very important* that your submission does NOT include your name. Your uploaded work should include only your work's title and category (ex. Poetry, Middle School) in the top left corner of your document.

Awards & Recognition

We doubled our cash prize in each category in 2024! Winners will be notified via email in early March. A reception will be held in April to celebrate all authors and give out the awards, including the Linda Zhang Award For Writing Achievement.

Middle School: First Prize $200, Second Prize $100, Third Prize $50

High School: First Prize $200, Second Prize $100, Third Prize $50

Winning works will be published here on our website, and those authors & poets may have the opportunity to be featured in a future issue of Stroll Chappaqua Magazine.

Questions? Email youngwriters@chappaqualibraryfriends.org

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: Saturday, January 31, 2026 at 11:59 am/NOON.

Winners of the 45th Annual Young Writers Contest

High School Nonfiction

First Place: Lasya Hota, 10th Grade, The Healing Balm of Literature

Second Place: Luísa Vieira, 11th Grade, In the Space Between

Third Place: Cole Rothenberg, 10th Grade, A Soul Worth Forgiving

High School Fiction

First Place: Lasya Hota, 10th Grade, Of Soirees and Rose-Tinted Glasses

Second Place: Arielle Bortz, 10th Grade, The Bonnet's Secret

Third Place (tie): Hadley Robertson, 11th Grade, Lantern Boy

Third Place (tie): Violet Clinton, 9th Grade, Mariana's Story

Third Place (tie): Luísa Vieira, 11th Grade, Brigadeiro

High School Poetry

First Place: Rory Frasch, 12th Grade, Patriot

Second Place: Caroline Sunwoo, 9th Grade, The Green-Eyed Monster

Third Place: Cinzia Mazzini-Chin, 9th Grade, The F Train

Middle School Nonfiction

First Place: Mia Long, 7th Grade, Rewriting School Math

Second Place: Richelle Cong, 8th Grade, Is It Just Us?

Third Place (tie): Rishaan Kishore, 6th Grade, Partition of India

Third Place (tie): Elliott Whang, 8th Grade, Artificial Intelligence

Middle School Fiction

First Place: Jacob Zhang, 6th Grade, Heroshima

Second Place: Isabella Wright, 6th Grade, Bluejay

Third Place: Natalia Peschiera, 6th Grade, Stressed in the Spotlight

Middle School Poetry

First Place: Lena Yoon, 7th Grade, Echoes of Solitude

Second Place: Le My Tran, 8th Grade, Dear Alice

Third Place: Ella Zhu, 7th Grade, i know that, i do

Past Winners of the Young Writers Contest

The Young Writers Contest attracts talented writers who live in the Chappaqua Central School District each year. Click below to see lists of past winning authors. 

2024 Young Writers Contest Winners

2023 Young Writers Contest Winners

2022 Young Writers Contest Winners