"It's All Write!" Short Story Contest
The "It's All Write!" Short Story Contest is an annual event sponsored by the Ann Arbor District Library in conjunction with the Ann Arbor Book Festival that invites short story entries from teenagers. Short stories are judged in three different groups: Middle School Grades 6-8, High School Grades 9 & 10, and High School Grades 11 & 12. Prizes are given to the top three writers in each age group. Now in its 18th year, more submissions are entered into the contest every year with over 200 in the last few years. Over 1500 entries have been received for the contest since its start and they've come from as far away as Pakistan.
2010 "It's All Write!" Short Story Contest
Over 250 teen writers turned in stories for the 2010 "It's All Write!" short story writing contest. Click on the titles below to read the stories or get the entire 2010 "It's All Write!" Book.
Middle School Winners:
1st Ifeoma Irobunda "The Garden Gnome"
2nd Jessica Liu "Hana"
3rd Hanel Baveja "My Brother, Isaac"
High School 9th/10th Grade Winners:
1st A. Bishel "The Bird Syndrome"
2nd Rose Condon "Canon In D"
3rd Erin Baughn "Switched"
High School 11th/12th Grade Winners:
1st Allison Burg "Cappuccino Girl"
2nd Kayla Stoler "It's Like a Sanctuary"
3rd Jasmine An "I Care"
2010 finalists in the three grade categories:
Middle School:
| Emily Austin “Mrs. Mugglewump” Caitlin Bowen “Monster” Christy Choi “Reading Beauty" Erika Dunkelberger “The Ride” Claire Fishman “Found and Lost” Quinn Johns “The Siege of Alesia” Noah W. Luntzlara “Arcade” |
Marissa Martzolff “Following Moss and Stars" Grace McGibbon “Death, Divorce, Doughnuts & Red Ferraris” Rishika Ramireddy “A Second Chance” Andrea Scheffler “Death in Her Eyes” Tanner Smart “Rogues Revealed: A Tale of Traitors & Heroes” Jacqueline Way “Getting Up” |
High School 9th/10th Grade:
| Maggie Bonar “Revolution’s End” Jing Chai “The Sailor Moon Card” Maxwell Klausner “A Step into Manhood" Christa Kuck “Bailey” Susan LaMoreaux “Swimsuit Situation” Kristen Lee “At the End” |
Jessica MacDonald “Heaven Isn’t a Place” Summer Moore “Hyperactive Hyperbole” Aminah Muhammad “Mommy’s Girl” Brittany Newell “The Tuckers” Yunhan Wei “Karma” Belinda Zoller “The Number” |
High School 11th/12th Grade:
| Gabrielle Cohen “In a Line” Nasha deBryun “Nadia” Kelly Falkowski “Card Tricks” Michelle Grifka “Fresh Start” Zubin Zhan “Ephemeral” Katie Knoll “Pieces” |
Nathan Lannan “Damaged” Alyssa Liljequest “Imposter Navigator” Ian Macdonald “My Hero” Jennifer Pampreen “Weightless” Megan Shiplett “Razzmatazz” Rachel Stokes “Descent”" |
2009 "It's All Write!" Short Story Contest
Over 200 teen writers turned in stories for the 2009 "It's All Write!" short story writing contest. Click on the titles below to read the stories or get the entire 2009 "It's All Write!" Book.
Middle School Winners:
1st Christy Choi "Stynkchro Boy"
2nd Christina Bartson "Four Rolls of Toilet Paper"
3rd Hannah Clague "Brothers, Calendars, and Lies"
High School 9th/10th Grade Winners:
1st Lexie Bartell "Day at the Museum"
2nd Honora Wood "Trinity"
3rd Kaitlin Daida "Charlie's Sleep"
High School 11th/12th Grade Winners:
1st Rebecca Cao "Great Beauty"
2nd Lindsay Fischer "The Pebble Factory"
3rd Michele Jobst "It"
2009 finalists in the three grade categories:
Middle School:
| Rose Condon "Hill of Four Trees" Caroline Elliott "'Nam" Aglaia Ho "The Kingdom" David Mazza "The Game" Hank Miller "Thank You, Roy" Sreya Modepalli "My Wind" |
Arkadia Kozak Pereklita "Whisper" Madeline Qi "Public Transportation" Mishka Repaska "An Early Separation" Javier Taylor "Sir Arthur" Dana Tessmer "Hero" Abigail Zielke "Two's Company, Three's an Angry Mob" |
High School 9th/10th Grade:
| Sarah Breyer "The Blue Bead" Elinor Chambers "My Gift" Abbie Cousino "Jake's Alley" Aerie Em "Blue Skies" Marin Gow "Coming Back" Jay Hack "Linear Theory" |
Nathan Liang "Memories Die Hard" Kate Markey "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" Martha McAlister-Raeburn "The Secret Goldfish" Kate Sears "I Am the Ocean" Teal Speece "Rocks in the Riverbed" Hannah Underhill "The Amethyst Bird" |
High School 11th/12th Grade:
| Riley Boorman "Buried Regret" Srilatha Eadara "Zahra" Sevde Felek "Two Bites of Pogaca" Joseph Fishman "Joseph Daniel Fishman" Charles Hack "A Formative Episode From the Early Life of Alastor Pelham Cavendish, Esq." |
Nicole Holtzman "You Can't Be True, Dear" Griffin Johnson "Haze" Pablo Leon-Luna "River Scarred" Hannah Overhiser "The Red Ink" Mary Scott "Transient Paradise" Shoshana Schultz-Purves "Breaking Daybreak" |
2008 "It's All Write!" Short Story Contest
Click on the titles below to read the stories or get the entire 2008 "It's All Write!" Book.
Middle School Winners:
1st Mari Cohen "Purple"
2nd Lydia L. Brown "Bittersweet"
3rd Caroline Elliott "Notes of Amadeus"
High School 9th/10th Grade Winners:
1st Regina Rose Kazanjian "Loways and Highways"
2nd Lindsay Fischer "Everything is Connected"
3rd Sussy Pan "Breaking the Birthday Curse"
High School 11th/12th Grade Winners:
1st Eva Colás "Searching"
2nd Lindsey Maxon "Networking"
3rd Josh Ballard "Premonitions of a Janitor"
2008 finalists in the three grade categories:
Middle School:
| Christina Bartson "Blind" Ann Huang "The Lake" Susan Lamoreaux "A Pet Fern" S.M. Lazarsfeld "Trading Queen" |
Mindze E.C. Mbala-Nkanga "The Wardrobe" Natalie Nagpal "The Draakan Trilogy: Vioris" Sarah Starman "A Black and White Memory" Eugene Zen "The Chocolate Covered Fiasco" |
High School 9th/10th Grade:
| Yazen Alshunnar "The Wall" Gabrielle Blakemore "Only as You Make Them" Kate Brown "Traveling" Stephanie Chueh "The Strange Disappearance of Alonzo Montgomery" Carlina Duan "Steps" |
Jakob Hildebrandt "St.Joe" Katelyn Horning "Why Would it be Murder???" Noah Kaczor "Churchill" Sandra Periord "A Date with Disaster" Hehui Quan "The Fortuitous Day of David Virens" Stephanie Steele "Surfing Tournament" |
High School 11th/12th Grade:
| Emily Brown "Boredom Can Be Dangerous" Isabella Decker "Available May Through October" Elinor Epperson "Cats With Bright Orange Homes" Kerry Flannagan "Dr. Sherman and the Quahog" Harper Jocque "We Who Stand and Speak of Culture" Dmitri Kapousta "Self-Made Prophet" Jen Pittman "Model" |
Rebecca E. Punch "Chiaroscuro" Noam Samuel "Day of Atonement" Kaylie Schaufele "To The Next Step" Matt Sherry "Your Friendly Neighborhood Extortionist" Nathan Shumway "Fantasy and Fire" Julia Tang "Under the Weather" Raymond P. Viviano "The Contrast" |
2007 "It's All Write!" Short Story Contest
Middle School Winners:
1st Ben DeVries “Why I Failed My Math Exam-A Confessional”
2nd Mari Cohen “The Truth Prisoner”
3rd Dylan Schepers “Jack Summers”
High School 9th/10th Grade Winners:
1st Paul Princen “Generation Gap”
2nd Alex Gradwohl “Seeking Strength”
3rd Jordan Pemberton “It Rained Last Night”
High School 11th/12th Grade Winners:
1st Jackie Cohen “Something Else”
2nd Estelle Drent “The Fifty-Dollar Fish”
3rd Isabella Decker “Adam and Laura”
2007 finalists in the three grade categories:
Middle School:
| Josie Ruth Cohen “Karen’s Clone” Rebecca Dyck “Just in Time” Betsy Mansfield “An Immigrant’s Journey” Priyanka Menon “Empathy or Hope” |
Andrew Paulissen “The Sithills” Jasmine Powell “I’ll Be Waiting” Samantha Rudelich “Will” |
High School 9th/10th Grade:
| Lindsay Fischer “Symmetrical” Mira Fishman “Chickpeas” Constance Lam “The White Carnation” Naomi Lin “The Many Days in a Minute” Charles Lu “Helping Out” Lindsey Maxon “Purpose” |
Nowal Nasir “The Bargain” Kelly Newman “The Day Ed (Almost) Died” Joon-Hyock Oh “The Great Barrier Reef” Allison Reid “Jimmy Meets Mother Theresa” Bailey Yi “Washed Away” |
High School 11th/12th Grade:
| Luis Anderson “Corvus” Amit Ashkenazi “Kings and Servants” Evan Granito “The Beard” Emily Grove “Arys” Sarah Hodin “Raindance” Lauren Koski “Stains” |
Emma List “Mission Accomplished” Angela Marchand “Otto” Sabrina Na “Timeless” Lizzie Rivard “Washed Away” Andy Seiler “Nets” Julia Upfal “The Wedding” |
2006 "It's All Write!" Short Story Contest
Middle School Winners:
1st Lindsay Fischer “Alien Girl”
2nd Timothy G. Rhein “Escape to Denmark”
3rd Isabel McKay “A Slanted Roof”
High School 9th/10th Grade Winners:
1st Eva Colás “Morning Again”
2nd Maya Lamm “Saved”
3rd Sabrina Na “Daisies in the Garden”
High School 11th/12th Grade Winners:
1st Emmaleigh Mia Paul “How to Make Empenadas”
2nd Jenneva Scholz “The Gift”
3rd Eva Miller “A Romance”
2006 finalists in the three grade categories:
Middle School:
| Kristy Abrahm “Takato Miato” Calina Duan “Entwined” Derek Fead “The Best Kind of Injury” Maggie Grundler “A Little Catching Up” Laura Immonen “Me, the Blizzard, and a Turtle” Lissa Kryska “Dopey and Seven Princesses” S.M. Lazarfeld “Lonesome” Teddy Perry “Mammoth” |
Abby Pianelli “The Secret” Allison Sharrar “A Brighter Future” Nick Sorscher “The Firestone” Walaa Tout “Guilty for Greed” Christy Vanek “Wake Up” Margaret Whittier-Ferguson “Seeds” Eugene Zen “Giants Ants Attack” Annie Zhang “A View From the Handing Platform” |
High School 9th/10th Grade:
| Margaret Agnew “The Siren’s Eye” Megan Brooks-Planck “The Glass Factory” Emily Brown “Moving On” Sam Dochoda “The Iron-Pawed Wolf” Sian Dowis “Dopey” Chris Jalilevand “The Remote” |
Hallie Morris “Lilacs for Sara” Priyanka Murthy “The Party” Elizabeth Przbyiski Deatrick “Freedom Lake” Mary Taylor “Regarding the Plums” Jennifer W. Woolley “And Ending With Pearls” |
High School 11th/12th Grade:
| Leah Bromberg “Riding Love” Daniel Burgener “Weaving Death” Jackie Cohen “Eccentricity” Anneka Goss “The Tidepool” |
Alistair Hayden “When Two Worlds Collide” Marisa Huston “The Jesus Lights” Catherine Opalka “Eight Hundred Feet” Martin Tinkerhess “Midnight Blues” |
2005 "It's All Write!" Short Story Contest
Middle School Winners:
1st Mary Gallagher “Madoc”
2nd Julia Durham “The Story of My Life”
3rd Victoria Linder “Racing the Tides”
High School 9th/10th Grade Winners:
1st Jaclyn Cohen “Sparks”
2nd Lily Baker “Mr. Horace”
3rd Geoffrey McFarland “Priorities of a Country Witch”
High School 11th/12th Grade Winners:
1st Kati Shanks “Passing Judgment”
2nd AbdiAziz Ali “Run From the War”
3rd Nicole Stagg “Expecting”
2004 "It's All Write!" Short Story Contest
Middle School Winners:
1st Laura Wellman “The Painter”
2nd Lizzie Rivard “One December Morning”
3rd Firas Shalabi “Lunch Up High”
High School 9th/10th Grade Winners:
1st Camille Bonham “Pineapple is the Best I Can Do”
2nd Jenneva A. Scholz “Secrets”
3rd Lin Yang “The Orange Tree”
High School 11th/12th Grade Winners:
1st Nicole Stagg “On Tethered Wings”
2nd Adam Markovitz “Plumbing the Depths”
3rd Erin Pianelli “Code Blue”
