Cd’A Public Library writers competition winners recognized
COEUR d’ALENE — The winners in the 2020 Julie Meier Writers Competition at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library were announced Friday in an online presentation streamed live on Facebook.
This year’s competition was impacted and delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic which closed the library for nearly two months. The awards ceremony was moved online because in-person programming and meetings are currently suspended at the library.
In its 31st year, the competition is for fiction and nonfiction prose of 2,000 words or less with age groups from kindergarten to adult. The late Julie Meier, for whom the competition was named in 2018, created the program to encourage writing excellence and to recognizes talented writers. Prize money — $100 for first, $50 for second, and $25 for third — is provided through grants from the Coeur d’Alene Kiwanis Club, the Friends of the Coeur d’Alene Public Library, and the Coeur d’Alene Public Library Foundation.
The competition is judged by professional writers and editors, educators, and by library employees.
The number of entries was reduced this year. In categories where there were three of fewer entries, they were judged on their merit and scored as they would normally would have been. All entries in the competition, winning or not, are bound into books that are added to the library’s collection. These books can be viewed in the History Room at the library.
The winners for 2020 are:
• Grades Kindergarten to 2 Fiction/Nonfiction: First, Evalette Treto, “Stanley the Exploring Turtle.”
• Grades 3-5 Nonfiction: First, Sean M. Farrar, “A Young Man Changed,” and Second, John Paul Heresey, “Everything is Better in Cowboy Boots.”
• Grades 6-8 Nonfiction: First, Adison Harrison, “The Gift of Laughter,” and Second, Elijah Harrison, “Itchy the Cat.”
• Grades 9-12 Nonfiction: First, Meilin Scott, “Nighttime in the Neighborhood,” Second, Katie Langford, “My Story,” and Third, Isaiah Harrison, “The Boat House.”
• Adult Nonfiction: First, Meagan Myrberg, “How to Achieve the Perfect Skin,” Second, Rebecca S. Lacock, “About a Nurse,” and, Third, Dr. Carol Graham, “The Tooth Fairy Wants It Back.”
• Grades 3-5 Fiction: First, Lydia Kirkbride, “Tides of the Cove,” Second, Alyssa Harrison, “Through the Garden,” and Third, Lexie Fisher, “Twinning.”
• Grades 6-8 Fiction: First, Thayen Treto, “Dear Pimple,” Second, Quinn Michael, “Frontlines,” and Third, Abigail Wilson, “Playground of Hope.”
• Grades 9-12 Fiction: First, Brayden Smart, “Whitechapel,” Second, Elizabeth Ana McComas, “In Honor of Aleah,” and Third, Blessing Allen, “A Day in the Life of a Grand Piano.”
• Adult Fiction: First, Alahna Harrison, “Venom and Desert Paintbrush,” Second, Tina Rodeen, “In a Circle of Sheep,” and third, Glenn K. Graham, “It Came from the West.”
