Youth Writing Contest 2021 Winners Announced

Surrey Libraries is pleased to announce and congratulate the winners of the 2021 Surrey Libraries Youth Writing Contest. The winners were acknowledged at an awards gala on Wednesday, October 13.

The Youth Writing Contest is an annual writing competition for youth aged 12-18. Since launching the contest in 1987, Surrey Libraries has received close to 7,000 entries from aspiring young writers across Surrey. The contest is free to enter and young writers submit entries to one of the four contest categories: short stories, poems, comics, and a random category for other types of writing such as essays, screenplays, or song lyrics.

This popular program is organized by the dynamic youth library staff at Surrey Libraries and is made possible through the generous support of champion sponsors Khalsa Credit Union and Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

An anthology of the winners’ work will be available to borrow or for purchase for $8.00 at the end of October.

YOUTH WRITING CONTEST Winners 2021:

Junior Short Story
1st Place – “The Watchmaker's Apprentice,” Enya Fang
2nd Place – “The Monster Under the Bed,” Chloe Lee
3rd Place – “The Burning Land,” Hala Al Said
Honourable Mention – “Orange Fever: A Comedy Horror,” Hayden O'Brien
Honourable Mention – “Time for Change,” Annika Gill

Senior Short Story
1st Place – “Closure,” Joyce Park
2nd Place – “Stowaway,” Audrey Kemp
3rd Place – “Solitary Cosmos,” Adella Teja
Honourable Mention – “Goodbye,” Loki Oravec 

Junior Poetry
1st Place – “Deception of Gambling,” Hayden O'Brien
2nd Place – “Food for Thought,” Cadence Liao
3rd Place – “That Little Girl,” Isabella Endersby
Honourable Mention – “Good Night,” Khushi Cheema
Honourable Mention – “Looking Down from the Heavens,” Jesu Matteo I. Manalo

Senior Poetry
1st Place – “Sweet, Bygone Sixteen,” Rena Su
2nd Place – “Astrophysicist's Love Letter to an Artist,” Saiyah Cheema
3rd Place – “Bao,” Annie Huang
Honourable Mention – “Grey,” Loki Oravec
Honourable Mention – “Mîkiwâm,” Manav Sharma

Random
1st Place – “Welcome to the Sisterhood of Guiding” (Fictional Safety Guidelines), Rachael Le
2nd Place – “A rant about my passions” (Creative Non-Fiction), Yue Chen
3rd Place – “Problems with Representative Democracy” (Essay), Manav Sharma
Honourable Mention – “Patch Notes 06.2021” (Experimental Text), Rena Su

Comics
1st Place – “21st Century Humor,” Benedict Carlos
2nd Place – “Immigrant,” Annis Seo
3rd Place – “Triangles, Squares, and the Circle,” Annie Huang
Honourable Mention – “Lost in Imagination,” Sukhman Kambo

Finalists

Junior Short Story

Wenhao Li
Michelle Masood
Sienna Chow
Ruo (Rey) Shui
Mabel Chen
Camden Batenburg
David Lee
Emily Liu
Hailey Daws

Senior Short Story

Shirley Chen
Gurleena Sukhija
Kaylee Chan
May Chee
Rena Su
Ya Xuan (Linda) Bian

Junior Poetry

Hailey Daws
Zahran Mohammad
Seo-jin Lee
Sienna Chow
Joyce Zhang
Mehak Lally
Ruo (Rey) Shui
Aadil Sood
Chloe Lee
Emily Balmant
Alisha Wang
Jasper Zhang

Senior Poetry

Adriana Feria-Estrada
Audrey Kemp
Jasmine Chetty
Kaylee Chan
Ariana Clements
Isobel O'Toole
Puneet Uppal
Basma Mangat
Abbye Mozsar
Lavanya Mohankumar

Random

Karina Zhou
Annie Wu
Renee Wang
Saiyah Cheema
Sofia Lemay
Benedict Carlos
Ya Xuan (Linda) Bian
Rupam Atwal
Juliana Maria Manalo

Comics

Maya Sidhu
Lorena Mann
Michelle Masood
Dain (Esther) Park
Kaitlyn Lu
Kisara Ranawaka
Anwesha Bordoloi
Jimmy Huang