Winners of Surrey LibrariesThe 2024 Youth Writing Competition was celebrated at an awards ceremony on October 16 at the Center Stage Theater at Surrey Town Hall.

The annual writing competition, aimed at young people aged 12 to 18, is free in six categories, including short stories (senior and junior), poems (senior and junior), comics and chance (for d other types of writing such as essays, screenplays or song lyrics).

Since the competition launched in 1987, Surrey Libraries has received more than 8,000 entries from budding young writers from across Surrey. Details are published on surreylibraries.ca/services/teens/youth-writing-contestthe website on which registrations for the 2025 competition will be accepted next summer.

“This year’s entries were exceptional in both number and excellence,” said Tricia Green, Youth Services Librarian and competition coordinator.

“It’s incredibly uplifting to see the talent, passion and courage shown by these young Surrey writers and artists. »

Grace Ding won first place in the Senior Short Story category and second place in the Comics category.

“This competition means a lot to me because it made me proud and helped me gain self-esteem in my work,” Grace said. “My advice to future candidates is to have confidence in what you create…everyone starts somewhere, so don’t overthink it. »

Lucy Prior, who received honorable mention in the Junior Short Stories category, said she loved writing and felt “incredibly grateful for this opportunity which allowed me to discover and share a part of myself .

“I believe in the power of words to connect, empower and inspire people,” Lucy added. “I love that this competition helps people find their words and gives them the gift of sharing them.”

Organized by Surrey Libraries staff, the youth writing competition is made possible with the support of sponsors including Khalsa Credit Union, Kwantlen Polytechnic University and the Surrey International Writers’ Conference.

Sold for $8, an anthology of the winning work can be borrowed from library branches.

SURREY LIBRARIES 2024 YOUTH WRITING COMPETITION WINNERS, BY CATEGORY:

New junior:

First prize: Seerit Khangura

Second prize: Jia Lu Hai

Third prize: Jolene Zhang

Honorable Mention: Lucy Prior

Honorable Mention: Chahaat Bains

New senior:

First prize: Grace Ding

Second prize: Annika Gill

Third prize: Andrei Ichiro Requinto

Honorable Mention: Rifana Saleem Khan

Junior poetry:

First prize: Anna Goode

Second prize: Alessandra Abia

Third prize: Myreen Randhawa

Honorable mention: Andrei Tokarev

Honorable Mention: Poonam Dhillon

Senior poetry:

First prize: Michelle Masood

Second prize: Clary Chow

Third prize: Sienna Chow

Honorable Mention: Selen Al-Shuaibi

Honorable Mention: Annika Gill

Comics:

First prize: Sophia Ng

Second prize: Grace Ding

Third prize: Esther Dain Yeong

Honorable Mention: Japji Sandhu

Honorable Mention: Sukhman Kambo

Random:

First prize: Renata Mustafa

Second prize: Diya Karthik

Third prize: Jocelyn Mui

Honorable Mention: Luciana Tilgner

Honorable Mention: Esther Dain Yeong