2022 marked the 20th Annual Young Writers Awards competition. On Monday, May 16 the Society Library honored stellar writing by aspiring authors and poets in grades three through twelve at the Young Writers Awards ceremony, held virtually for a third year, allowing participation from as far away as Florence, Italy. This year’s competition yielded 344 entries by NYSL members as well as students at NYSL member and invited schools. Longtime competition judges poet Dave Johnson and authors Carol Weston and Edra Ziesk were joined by first-time competition judge author Karina Yan Glaser in selecting the winning entries. The twelve winning and honorable mention stories, essays, and poems touched on an array of topics from tables to clocks and from dandelions to cows, along with birthdays and the true feeling of home. At the ceremony Karina Yan Glaser noted that “writing is an act of bravery.” Each of the authors urged all the brave writers who submitted their work to continue writing, tomorrow and the next day and the day after that! After the ceremony the judges and the honorees they selected connected in breakout rooms to discuss reading, writing, and what inspires them, including soccer, travel, and reading great writing. 

We are sure to read more work from these remarkable young writers in the future. In the meantime, we urge you to read their winning words and to view the awards ceremony.