Congratulations 2026 DC Metro Scholastic Writing Awards recipients!

View the full list of works recognized in the 2026 DC Metro Writing Region of the Scholastic Writing Awards below!

A panel of professional novelists, editors, teachers, poets, librarians, journalists, and other literary professionals selected these works from 2,408 works submitted this year.

• 310 Honorable Mentions awarded to promising works
• 198 Silver Keys awarded to distinguished works
• 95 Gold Keys awarded to the most accomplished works
• 5 American Voice Nominees selected as the strongest regional works

Gold Keys are automatically forwarded for consideration at the national level of the Scholastic Writing Awards.

To recognize their outstanding work, this year's Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention recipients are invited, along with their guests, teachers, and our esteemed jurors, to the 2026 Awards Ceremony for the DC Metro Writing Region of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards!

• Date: Sunday, March 22nd, 2026
• Time: 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM ET
• Place: UDC Student Center Ballroom, 4200 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008
• RSVP form link

American Voices Nominees

• Chelsea Zhu of Richard Montgomery High School for Estrangement Triptych (Poetry)
• Ivy Sand of Georgetown Day High School for Hide & Seek (Personal Essay & Memoir)
• Zack Lam of Richard Montgomery High School, for How the Other Half Lives (Poetry)
• Ruth Pournelle of School Without Walls, for Human Constructs (Short Story)
• Amenah Rashid of Langley High School, for On this beach rots the bile of the sea (Speculative Fiction)

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We are also hosting a free 3-hour Submissions Party on Sunday, April 26! This will be a time to connect with other young writers, learn how to identify and submit to literary magazines and writing contests, and receive guidance from published authors on revising and submitting your work.

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