Outdoor Writers Association of America - The Voice of the Outdoors

Youth Writing Contest

Thank You to Our Sponsors!

The Norm Strung Youth Writing Contest is sponsored by OWAA, The Outdoor Guide Magazine and Delta Waterfowl.

2006 Norm Stung Youth Writing Competition Winners

Senior Poetry

First Place: Sledding by Jenny Knezovich (Reardon, WA)
Second Place: Checking Traps After the First Snow by Fergus Gavin (Faribault, MA)
Third Place (tie): Winter Magic by Mary Thomas (Windsor, NY)
Third Place (tie): Canyon Swing by Jacqueline Robinette (Cheney, WA)

Senior Prose

First Place: To Be A Thomas by Casey Thomas (Post Falls, ID)
Second Place: The First Pheasant by Charles Schmidtbauer (Anoka, MN)
Third Place: Untitled by Michael Cambareri (Lacona, NY)

Junior Poetry

First Place: Call of the North by Jake Budnick (Isanti, MN)
Second Place: Sound of Summer by Francesca D’Angelo (Duncannon, PA)
Third Place: If You Really Want To Know Me by Kam Shaw (Zeeland, MI)

Junior Prose

First Place: Untitled by Jacob Aleckson (St.Cloud, MN)
Second Place: What A Cast by Dylan Loga (Tawas City, MI)
Third Place: My First Rites of Passage by Josh Moyer (New Cumberland, PA)

To encourage students to sharpen their abilities to communicate the outdoor experience, annual awards are being offered as part of the Norm Strung Youth Writing Contest. The 2007 contest was sponsored by Outdoor Writers Association of America, Delta Waterfowl and the Outdoor Guide. The contest features separate categories for poetry and prose.

Cash awards and certificates are granted in both categories and in two different divisions, senior and junior. The Senior division is for grades 9-12, and the Junior division is for grades 6-8. The judges criterion (within guidelines) are “excellent writing, and excellent poetic form and content.”

Contest Rules

The work must have been published in a newsletter, newspaper, magazine, literary collection, etc. during 2007. The publication can be school or club related, or commercial.

At the time the article was published or accepted for publication, the author must have been a student in grades 6-8 to enter the junior division; grades 9-12 (including prep school) to enter the senior division.

The topic must be outdoor oriented (hiking, camping, boating, fishing, hunting, nature, ecology, canoeing, etc.). Any prose or poetic form is acceptable.

Entrants must submit one original published copy (tear sheet) of the entry. The tear sheets must contain the publication name and date. A cover sheet needs to include the entrant’s address and grade in school at the time of publication. If these criteria are not met, the entry will be disqualified.

Students may enter as many pieces of writing as they wish; however, each student will be limited to one prize per annual contest.

Deadline for receiving entries is March 15, 2008. Send entries to OWAA Headquarters, 121 Hickory St., Ste. 1, Missoula, MT 59801. Mark the lower left hand side of the envelope with the division for which the entry is intended (“Junior” or “Senior”), and for the category (“Prose” or “Poetry”).

OWAA will announce the winners at its annual conference. OWAA reserves the right to reprint the winning articles in its monthly publication.