OTTAWA — Despite the ongoing pandemic, hundreds of Ottawa youth ages 9 to 18 answered the call to participate in the 2020–2021 Awesome Authors writing contest. From December 2020 to February 2021, kids and teens from across Ottawa were invited to submit their original writing in one of the following six categories: short story, poetry, or comic in English, and nouvelle, poésie, or bande dessinée in French. After lengthy deliberations, the jury members revealed today the happy winners in a series of videos available now on the Ottawa Public Library’s website and on OPL’s YouTube channel. The list of winners in each category is also included below the French version of this announcement.
This year, the jury—made up of Catherine Austen, Amelinda Bérubé, Éric Péladeau, Karine Perron and Khaleefa “Apollo the Child” Hamdan—received 512 entries. “We had our work cut out for us to choose the winners, but it was so completely inspiring to see the unbelievable talent of the participants and how they really threw themselves into their art to express their feelings about the pandemic,” marvelled Amelinda Bérubé. Participants were also fortunate to benefit from valuable technical tips on their craft through workshops carefully put together and led by jury members.
“This contest demonstrates once again how important artistic expression is in the lives of the city’s youth and how deeply OPL cares about not only meeting this need, but also getting these kids to fall in love with the art of writing,” said Matthew Luloff, Chair of the Ottawa Public Library Board and Councillor for Orléans. “This year’s submissions really impressed us with their creativity and the message of resilience, solidarity, and hope voiced by their authors. A special thanks to the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library Association for their support in making this contest happen.”
The annual Awesome Authors contest is sponsored by the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library Association (FOPLA), which publishes Potpourri, an annual anthology of all the winning poems, short stories, and comics. The next edition, out at the end of the year on FOPLA’s website, will feature all of this year’s winning writing pieces. Put it on your holiday gift list or pick up a copy for yourself next December!
Congratulations to all the winners! The official list of winners, organized by writing category, with each winner’s name, the title of their work, age, school, and standing follows this announcement.
For more information on this program, visit BiblioOttawaLibrary.ca.
2020-2021 Awesome Authors Contest Winners / Gagnants du concours d’écriture Supers auteurs 2020-2021
Ages 9 – 12 / Groupe d’âge des 9 à 12 ans
POEMS
1st Place
Moyra Kenward-Park (Age 10), Clean is Brown
Manor Park Public School
2nd Place
Kara van Sertima (Age 11), The Colors Of Hearts
Homeschooled
3rd Place
Kaitlyn Hoad (Age 12), her drawings
School name not provided
Honourable Mention 1
Aleem Kassam (Age 12), A World Divided
Turnbull School
Honourable Mention 2
Saara Sherazi (Age 12), The Act of Falling
Al-Furqan School
Honourable Mention 3
Raghad Haroun (Age 11), Lost Hope
Al-Furqan School
SHORT STORIES
1st Place
Saara Sherazi (Age 12), The Pride of the People
Al-Furqan School
2nd Place
Amelia Medd (Age 11), One Wish
Hopewell Avenue Public School
3rd Place
Lydia MacIntosh (Age 12), The Spelling Bee
School name not provided
Honourable Mention 1
Tyler Malhotra (Age 12), The Laughter
Ashbury College
Honourable Mention 2
Finn Roy (Age 12), The King
Holy Trinity High School
Honourable Mention 3
Lucy Hambly (Age 12), Twilight Wind
Lorne Cassidy Elementary School
COMICS
1st Place
Sienna James (Age 12), A Hunter
Longfields-Davidson Heights Secondary School
2nd Place
Lily Sharkey (Age 12), Sammie and Calvin
School name not provided
3rd Place
Hind Gabr (Age 10), Anyone Can Be Anything
Al-Furqan School
Honourable Mention 1
Emily Byrne (Age 12), Garbage can man
School name not provided
Honourable Mention 2
Miriam Tapiero (Age 10), Terry's Worst Valentine's Day Ever!
School name not provided
Honourable Mention 3
Florence Swanson (Age 10), Wild Hearts
School name not provided
POÉSIE
1er prix
Tessa Ernst-Fontaine (âge 12), Solitude
École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité
2e prix
Sybille Olson (âge 10), Dolce Poesia
Lycée Claudel
3e prix
Sèna Rose Greig (âge 12), Quelle douce mélodie
Collège catholique Franco-Ouest
Mention honorable 1
Edith René (âge 12), Éclats
École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité
Mention honorable 2
Ismaïl Zeroual, (âge 12), Le confinement
School name not provided
Mention honorable 3
Maelle Grebale,(âge 12), Á travers nos mots
Holy Trinity High School
NOUVELLE
1er prix
Léa LaBossière Vobornik (âge 12), Apocalypse
École secondaire catholique Garneau
2e prix
Éva Gagosz—Faure (âge 12), Pourquoi?
École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité
3e prix
Tessa Ernst-Fontaine (âge 12), Anormale
École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité
Mention honorable 1
Émilie Gurnick (âge 11), Le lac enchanté
École élémentaire publique Julie-Payette
Mention honorable 2
Sybille Olson (âge 10), À l’aube de la nuit
Lycée Claudel
Mention honorable 3
Florence Swanson (âge 10), Un coeur d'écrivaine
School name not provided
BANDE DESSINÉE
1er prix
Sèna Rose Greig (âge 12), Point de vue
Collège catholique Franco-Ouest
2e prix
Sofia Cipcigan (âge 11), Abeilles travailleuses
École élémentaire publique Charlotte-Lemieux
3e prix
Eva Riecker (âge 10) et Léah Kogan (âge 11), Un mauvais tricheur
OMS Montessori
Mention honorable 1
Anna-Sofia McLaughlin (âge 12), Dents le miroir
École secondaire catholique Béatrice Desloges
Mention honorable 2
Younous Azmi (âge 10), Le malheur de P'tit Tyrano
École élémentaire publique Julie-Payette
Mention honorable 3
Reve Kingstone (âge 10), Pas de chargeur, pas de problème
OMS Montessori
2020-2021 Awesome Authors Contest Winners /
Ages 13 – 18 / Groupe d’âge des 13 à 18 ans
POEMS
1st Place
Ariana Kubelik (Age 15), Just A Girl
Ashbury College
2nd Place
Mariam Gabr (Age 13), Reminiscing and Regretting
Al-Furqan School
3rd Place
Sophie Harb (Age 16), Youth howling at the streets
School name not provided
Honourable Mention 1
Shahed Alkadour (Age 13), Refugee
School name not provided
Honourable Mention 2
Mara Budge (Age 13), I am fire
Bell High School
Honourable Mention 3
Shelby-Marie Lalonde (Age 16), The cure for a stormy mind
School name not provided
SHORT STORIES
1st Place
Maleeka Ellaithy (Age 16), Name Tags and Bobby Pins
Colonel By Secondary School
2nd Place
Lillian Johnson (Age 16), A Perfectly Mundane Robbing
Canterbury High School
3rd Place
Samuel Budge (Age 15), The Last Supper
School name not provided
Honourable Mention 1
Alex Zhang (Age 15), Last Words
Holy Trinity Catholic High School
Honourable Mention 2
Jack Haas (Age 14), Mystery of Mishaps
School name not provided
COMICS
1st Place
Dayna Xiao (Age 13), Dog Whisperer
Katimavik Elementary School
2nd Place
Elena Hurley (Age 15), I don't Believe in Ghosts
Holy Trinity Catholic High School
Page Break
POÉSIE
1er prix
Sophie Harb (âge 16), Ressentir
School name not provided
2e prix
Alice Liu (âge 16), Arbre
École secondaire publique Maurice-Lapointe
3e prix
Isabella Wossen (âge 14), Ciel Charmant
École secondaire publique Omer-Deslauriers
Mention honorable 1
Emily Chaisson (âge 13), Mille mots pour te decrire
School name not provided
Mention honorable 2
Danica Xiao (âge 15), Quand je tombe
Merivale High School
Mention honorable 3
Jameela Ellaithy (âge 13), Plume
School name not provided
NOUVELLE
1er prix
Miriam Zdunich (âge 14), Quête de soi
École secondaire publique De La Salle
2e prix
Sophie Harb (âge 16), Double perspective
School name not provided
3e prix
Marianne LeMay (âge 13), Comment le Démon devint Roi
School name not provided
Mention honorable 1
Maleeka Ellaithy (âge 16), Un lumière bloqué
Colonel By Secondary School
Mention honorable 2
Fatim Diagne (âge 17), Naufragé
School name not provided
Mention honorable 3
Claire Guillemette (âge 14), Coupable
École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité
BANDE DESSINÉE
1er prix
Lauréanne Galand (âge 15), Harmony Retirement Community
École secondaire catholique Béatrice-Desloges
2e prix
Dayna Xiao (âge 13), Faim
Katimavik Elementary School
3e prix
Danica Xiao (âge 15), L'environnement
Merivale High School