Awards & Publications<\/h2>\n\n\n\n- Adiyah Parham<\/strong>\u2014We are thrilled to share and congratulate Adiyah Parham for winning the most prestigious writing award for teens in the nation, The Scholastic Awards’ Gold Medal for her Writing Portfolio. Of the thousands of writing portfolios submitted from across the country, only seven seniors win this prestigious $12,500 scholarship award. Adiyah has taken part in Writopia’s selective Creative Portfolio program for three years, and won a production in Writopia’s 2022 Worldwide Plays festival in New York City! Adiyah, we are so proud of your dedication to your craft and for the talent you have elevated with grace, wisdom, and passion.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mcusercontent.com\/4bbae34d2f35a71d5195e09a7\/images\/422d4720-aca6-d130-5d9d-ae64544de0e3.png?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n- Tara Prakash<\/strong>\u2014became Maryland\u2019s First State Youth Poet Laureate <\/a>and won eight Scholastic gold keys, seven silver keys, and eleven honorable mentions for poetry, personal essay, critical essay, flash fiction, and short story. Other awards she received: 2024 Montgomery County Youth Poet Laureate; National YoungArts Awards in Creative Nonfiction; Leonard L. Milberg ’53 High School Poetry Prize; DePaul’s Blue Book Best American High School Writing. She was also published in Blue Marble Review<\/em>. Congratulations on all!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ci3.googleusercontent.com\/meips\/ADKq_NZHnHglunTIHKyjtVVbhKQ29HRK2eOYlXdL-1yPo656OeQnsJT5uhGGnq9w1UcwvjxzQGPt6LUHE1xyhTm0jrpFeRcsy_9Rv9eTi-V8hAiYoahScGkMTWhNoEg1bxySiqXScyyteaxkvC01YA42oPYcLimfGmWJbXA=s0-d-e1-ft#https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/4bbae34d2f35a71d5195e09a7\/images\/995676db-a402-e0d1-2114-0ecbbed88bc0.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ci3.googleusercontent.com\/meips\/ADKq_NbTRRVJ0PenmFzHBANq7VJi3ToKW2HIeUWRPQBPfJrZL2OMxM9XF3o0xEXJF9CvzG-30aKDFCeihwtif-iI5Nmzx35JeGkUEy-H6eTFLc0RuYW1jXVJGRg2TPmXznTTGy1ecQOIE7ZIwt8FAS9sfku1PBXNei7l-z4=s0-d-e1-ft#https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/4bbae34d2f35a71d5195e09a7\/images\/6788fe7e-073e-eb68-5966-a3f85ff2524e.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n- Dina Lusztig Noyes<\/strong>\u2014who has been selected to participate in Writopia’s Advanced Writing Seminar (AWS) at the New School and this summer at Pratt became Santa Cruz\u2019s First Youth Poet Laureate<\/a>! We are so proud of your dedication, passion, community engagement, and talent!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ci3.googleusercontent.com\/meips\/ADKq_NYNJ2Zc_6CBKQ4XLT9DWKh28HOxyKgjZBuQ7lFOHZfsn2RnqH-soVHUT3peI68k5-Kvtgr28iRw4ra5VMxC-J8evQg0vziLBoHndKcEm6iWsM_t8iTcNBRFimyxY_QkWbxjciXzL9CMDd6te8llaF2IpL3nnv8-tUvN=s0-d-e1-ft#https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/4bbae34d2f35a71d5195e09a7\/images\/01ebed67-97fc-3504-3d2b-235abd5c83c3.jpeg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ci3.googleusercontent.com\/meips\/ADKq_NZkLSfx3iW3wouLkQidhTxnqJe8SqcSwCZbhCRMXInRaJJCckRjafKz45DUH8m6eHqW0fKE2Pwhc7bhSGcbNRMBApqQDTcuMdgliDZoH07-_kETTKx2-UHiynbu63HtR5tAKG1KA2i0S5fghXBW6lpXqtcG8F5_wkg=s0-d-e1-ft#https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/4bbae34d2f35a71d5195e09a7\/images\/2c6f6b1d-c4ce-26e5-6308-16d608880af0.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n- Maria Rojas<\/strong>\u2014was awarded a Gold and Silver Key from the Scholastic Awards and selected as a student speaker to present at the Gold Key Award Ceremony in New York City. She was also published in The Literary Kaleidoscope<\/em>, her school’s literary magazine, and served as the co-creative designer and editor of her school\u2019s literary publication. Congratulations on an amazing year!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ci3.googleusercontent.com\/meips\/ADKq_NZ3VroDW_KpUnEb9UUf4p0N44AYJ3WTZX_DYj1cq1krSEn7PgvLPj9FJCbvXUz7vzK55z2nxa2bKfowDq3VKyB4ljmTXddUtDOgn5zuOP_a1FtR7AOx-x5AiYhbKOckifDJz5KuRjIH6soaNG1A0fttjVYiD9e0piKy=s0-d-e1-ft#https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/4bbae34d2f35a71d5195e09a7\/images\/f92c7246-dcc1-15ca-e123-7d9fe3276a3f.jpeg\")
Maria Rojas speaking at the Scholastic Awards Ceremony. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n “Every Monday night, Maria comes with a smile from her workshop. She has built a fantastic community at Writopia Lab and made friends with her classmates and instructor. She has had the chance to submit her writing to multiple places, learning the lesson of what rejection feels like as well as acceptance. She won a Gold and Silver key at the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and she thanks her instructor Amy because she supported her with the submission process. Amy also supported her as she wrote and memorized a speech to give at the ceremony. Maria now wishes to minor in poetry in her college career. So, thank you all for allowing so many teens to have the chance to create their fondness for writing. Maria would never have known this side of herself without the support of Writopia Lab!” – Vilma, Maria’s mom <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n- Cora Anderson’s<\/strong> piece “First Snow of the Year” was published in The New York Times<\/em><\/a> as a winner of the Teen Tiny Memoirs Contest. Her piece \u201cCalifornia\u201d was published in Rust & Moth<\/em><\/a>.<\/li>
- Emi Shapiro<\/strong> was a finalist for The New York Times’<\/em><\/a> Teen Tiny Memoirs Contest.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ci3.googleusercontent.com\/meips\/ADKq_Nboj6fN3Lt1IHOgGo9-OELqSmJZj8eMIXy-0TdVLV7Otvn7qZNioTHV3Z82IkEi4gEBHXR6RSJEu_Jkmo8KUrfsZ_JWi6iHalHK01mQKozCrUeH2cSpUCosnQycW1pv79LWO37t4sXJJedHcIL7DB18TAUOmTP4rvE=s0-d-e1-ft#https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/4bbae34d2f35a71d5195e09a7\/images\/1bdb26c8-9b0c-2e73-1bfb-ad7184d069d8.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n- Sonali Browning <\/strong>was featured as a rising poet in the online newspaper The Mamaroneck Observer<\/em><\/a>; two silver keys and one honorable mention in poetry; and also won first place in the Lifting Up Westchester Essay Contest<\/a> and received $500. Sonali also had a poem featured in the Floodwaters Documentary<\/a> created by Westchester’s poet laureate BK Fischer, and three poems accepted for publication in Creative Communications, and her poems and stories were selected for publication in two Writopia publications: Turning the Page<\/a> anthology and Frightopia<\/a>. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ci3.googleusercontent.com\/meips\/ADKq_NbXnmyJ0idWt54QKovjx01xlVw3WCq4TDF_LFfi0yGzKUrQP6aTc-8do0sTzav8jVWGaKLJgshRPrT3CFpPmHHK6FPyQMsuAp2-ZzY53nFtTjK9G7NgHltPOco3iRKVwt0SQIFokyzZFtzSFlYGXzu0q0GxVgZz9gg=s0-d-e1-ft#https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/4bbae34d2f35a71d5195e09a7\/images\/a28e68b2-94b9-8b12-429d-0af55869d6bc.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n- Shreya Ganguly<\/strong> won a Scholastic Gold Key for her senior writing portfolio. Her poem \u201cWe Sit Close\u201d was published in Parallax<\/em><\/a>, and other works have been published in Interlochen Review<\/a> and is forthcoming in GSU’s Anthology of Outstanding High School Writing, Fledge and Writopia’s social justice anthology Turning the Page, We, the Treasured.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ci3.googleusercontent.com\/meips\/ADKq_NbIM6ilX0zAIoZul6JieYTABVfBpGPJxqNCvnjxWmktP2gxJ1cCAOuIn0KvH8IE92tFA3zmcety3Uv18deGFSuq7m79f90-uhhOrJiGWTvdP1CaEjgoYxVT8OyUudpfEIgwdJbf91YHG07ja-YwQ0FgzpW1VHJDQTt7=s0-d-e1-ft#https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/4bbae34d2f35a71d5195e09a7\/images\/9737adc3-0dbe-3483-0db7-e62f6893d1ef.jpeg\")
(From left to right) Sonali Browning, Aravah Chaiken, James Plummer, and Shreya Ganguly on the train to DC for the Creative Portfolio Retreat!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n- Ava Barcelona<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Gold Medal<\/strong>\u00a0for “ISANG BANSA, DALAWANG DIWA (ONE NATION, TWO SPIRITS).”<\/li>
- Nicola Bailey<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Silver Medal\u00a0<\/strong>for “Boxes.”<\/li>
- James Blenko<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Gold Medal<\/strong>\u00a0for “The Foreigner.”<\/li>
- Wyatt Foster\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic Gold Medal<\/strong> in Critical Essay for his nuclear semiotics project.<\/li>
- Gabe Horowitz<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Silver Medal\u00a0<\/strong>for “Porcine Psychopathy: Peppa Pig’s Mosaic of Evil.”<\/li>
- Yoonsuh Kim<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Gold Medal\u00a0<\/strong>for “Pigeon Clouds” and a\u00a0Silver Medal\u00a0<\/strong>for “Letters to my Mother.”<\/li>
- Olivia Romano<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Gold Medal<\/strong>\u00a0for “Capirotada Recipe” and a\u00a0Silver Medal\u00a0<\/strong>for “Car Radio.”<\/li>
- Twyla Shand<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Silver Medal<\/strong>\u00a0for “Empty-Handed.”<\/li>
- Ruby Sinder<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Silver Medal<\/strong>\u00a0for\u00a0“Always”;\u00a0two Scholastic gold keys, one silver key, and two honorable mentions for her poetry;\u00a0and was published in\u00a0Millennium High School\u2019s lit mag<\/a>.<\/li>
- Annabel Zhou<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Gold Medal\u00a0<\/strong>for\u00a0“Miracles.”<\/li>
- Hollyn Alpert\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0poem “Gold to Gray,” won the Society of Young Inklings book contest and will be published in an anthology; and won a gold key in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.<\/li>
- Carmen Ashworth<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic silver key for her science fiction and fantasy piece.<\/li>
- Zoe Becker\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic gold key for her personal essay and two honorable mentions for her short story and flash fiction piece.<\/li>
- Claire Breslow<\/strong>\u00a0won a\u00a0Scholastic silver key in short story and three honorable mentions in poetry, flash fiction, and novel writing.<\/li>
- Olivia Brown’s<\/strong>\u00a0poetry was recognized in a school poetry contest.<\/li>
- Isabella Cai<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic silver key in poetry and personal essay, as well as an honorable mention for humor.<\/li>
- Dakota Cameron<\/strong>\u00a0won three Scholastic honorable mentions for flash fiction, short story, and personal essay and memoir.<\/li>
- Aravah Chaiken<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic gold key for critical essay, two silver keys for short story, and one honorable mention for science fiction and fantasy.<\/li>
- Alexis Chase<\/strong>: The prologue to a novella in progress was published in Alexis\u2019 school’s literary magazine, the\u00a0Eidolon<\/em><\/a>, and in the newsletter of the\u00a0Washington Writers’ Publishing House<\/em><\/a>.<\/li>
- Nell Choi\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic gold key for personal essay and an honorable mention for flash fiction. Nell is a published author, an artist, and an activist. Check her out\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/li>
- Blake Feinstein\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic silver key in humor and an honorable mention in personal essay and memoir.<\/li>
- Michaela Frey<\/strong>\u00a0won three honorable mentions from the Scholastic Awards for Poetry; and had four of her poems and stories accepted and published in\u00a0<\/span>Teen Ink<\/em>.<\/span><\/li>
- Devra Goldhaber<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic silver key for flash fiction, as well as a silver key and two honorable mentions for poetry.<\/li>
- Ananya Govind\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic honorable mention for her short story.<\/li>
- Sanja Greenawalt\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic gold key in critical essay and novel writing, as well as a silver key in personal essay and memoir.<\/li>
- Stephanie Groves<\/strong>\u00a0won an honorable mention for her Scholastic writing portfolio.<\/li>
- Thuy Holder-Vinh<\/strong>\u00a0received an Honorable Mention from the Brooklyn Public Library\u2019s 2024 Teen Writing Contest & Ned Vizzini Prize for her short story, \u201cWonderland.\u201d [Story available at BPL branches this summer.]\u00a0<\/li>
- Joanne Hwang\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0op-ed\u00a0\u201cReimagining Writing at Stuyvesant\u201d<\/a>\u00a0was published in\u00a0The Spectator.<\/em><\/li>
- Naomi Jeske<\/strong>\u00a0won one Scholastic gold key, three silver keys, and four honorable mentions for poetry.<\/li>
- Lea Karian<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic silver key for her writing portfolio; a silver key in personal essay and memoir; and one gold key, one silver key and five honorable mentions for poetry.<\/li>
- Samantha Katz<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic silver key for short story and an honorable mention for novel writing.\u00a0<\/li>
- Katie Kim\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic gold key in short story, a gold key and honorable mention in science fiction, a silver key and honorable mention in poetry, and an honorable mention in novel writing.<\/li>
- Zack Lam<\/strong>\u00a0won two Scholastic silver keys and an honorable mention for his poetry and critical essay.<\/li>
- Emma Laurence\u00a0<\/strong>won a\u00a0Scholastic silver key in poetry.<\/li>
- Chloe Lee<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0gold key, a silver key, and three honorable mentions for poetry.<\/li>
- Koi Lerner\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>poem\u00a0\u201cSlaughter\u201d<\/a>\u00a0was published in\u00a0Teen Ink<\/em>.<\/li>
- Henry Lomma’s\u00a0<\/strong>short story\u00a0“Trish”<\/a>\u00a0was published in\u00a0Blue Marble Review<\/em>; “Count George” published in the\u00a0Frightopia<\/a>\u00a0anthology.<\/li>
- Nick Marino\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic gold key and honorable mention in science fiction and fantasy, a silver key and honorable mention in dramatic script, and two honorable mentions in flash fiction.<\/li>
- Oona McPhearson<\/strong>\u00a0won a\u00a0Scholastic gold key and silver key for short story.<\/li>
- Andrew Nam\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic gold key for critical essay.<\/li>
- Izzy Oh\u00a0<\/strong>won two Scholastic silver keys and an honorable mention for her poetry, flash fiction, and critical essay; and won second place in the Mary Ann Hutchinson Memorial Youth Story Contest.<\/li>
- Viraaj Raofield<\/strong>\u00a0won three Scholastic honorable mentions for novel writing and poetry.<\/li>
- Nina Rogers<\/strong> won a 2024 Honorable Mention from the Scholastic\u00a0Writing Awards for her short story Pete & Madeline.<\/li>
- Annalise Ross\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic silver key in personal essay and memoir as well as dramatic script.<\/li>
- Zahra Sadoughi<\/strong>\u00a0won a\u00a0Scholastic gold key and American Voices Nomination for her poetry and a silver key for her personal essay and memoir.<\/li>
- Hana Sakr<\/strong>\u00a0won three Scholastic silver keys for poetry.<\/li>
- Fenley Scurlock<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic gold key and honorable mention for humor and science fiction & fantasy.<\/li>
- Emi Shapiro<\/strong>\u00a0won two Scholastic\u00a0silver keys for her short story and personal essay, as well as an honorable mention for critical essay.<\/li>
- Divya Sharma<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0silver and honorable mention in critical essay.<\/li>
- Emily Shull<\/strong>\u00a0won a silver key for flash fiction and two honorable mentions for critical essay.<\/li>
- Avantika Singh<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic silver key in critical essay.<\/li>
- Lucy Steward<\/strong>\u00a0won two Scholastic silver keys and an honorable mention for critical essay as well as a silver key and honorable mention for poetry.<\/li>
- Alexandra Steyn<\/strong>\u00a0won three\u00a0Scholastic silver keys for critical essay, a silver key for short story, a silver key and honorable mention for flash fiction, and an honorable mention for personal essay and memoir.<\/li>
- Hugh Vickery<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic gold key for his poetry.<\/li>
- Jo Wallace-Segall<\/strong>\u00a0has two pieces of literary fiction, \u201cThere,\u201d and \u201cCoconut Juice” to be published\u00a0in the forthcoming issue of The Center School’s literary magazine.<\/li>
- Maxanne Wallace-Segall<\/strong>\u00a0won one Scholastic gold key and one honorable mention for journalism and one gold key for her fiction. Her opinion pieces, \u201cAre You Ok?: Muslim & Jewish Connection,\u201d \u201cPeace is Possible,\u201d and \u201cHow to Celebrate Passover During a War,\u201d\u00a0 were published in\u00a0The Spectator<\/em><\/a>.<\/li>
- Lilia Werve\u00a0<\/strong>won an honorable mention from the 2024 Scholastic Awards for her poetry (and a Gold Medal last year!)<\/li>
- Nirali Yedendra <\/strong>was published in Stone Soup<\/em> twice for the pieces “My Liberating Brain<\/a>”\u00a0and\u00a0“You Own It<\/a>“.<\/li>
- Jonathan Zhang\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0essay, \u201cThe Woman on the New Quarter\u201d, received a Scholastic Honorable Mention Award.<\/li>
- And congratulations to the following teens on completing their first year of our selective\u00a0<\/strong>Creative Portfolio program!
- Mariela Alschuler, Henry Arroyo,\u00a0Sahara Asher, Advika Asthana, Mason Avery, Lilah Baez, Nicola Bailey, Julia Barney, Owen Berland,\u00a0Sonali Browning, Ian Burch, Isabella Cai, Megan Chan,\u00a0Emily Charlton, Mahnaz Daud-Basrai, Sydney Davis,\u00a0Michaela Frey, Shreya Ganguly, Maya Graff, Miriam Hale, Thuy Holder-Vinh,\u00a0Sara Horowitz, Madelyn Hsieh,\u00a0Emma Knisbacher, Avni Krishna,\u00a0Maxwell Lally,\u00a0Annika Lamberti, Joshua Lancman,\u00a0Evie Lee, Serine Lee, Hunter Maguire, Edy Meyers,\u00a0Brendan Moran, Netta Nov,\u00a0Linda Palmer,\u00a0Harper Ragle, Viraaj Raofield,\u00a0Zahra Sadoughi,\u00a0Lili Sella,\u00a0Cate Shanahan,\u00a0Aashvi Singh,\u00a0Alexandra Steyn,\u00a0Ryan Tang, Yanic Valbrune, Maxanne Wallace-Segall, & Celeste Wilbur<\/li>
- Shout out to the dedicated Eva Djordjevic for completing her second year of Creative Portfolio while Zooming in from Spain!<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mcusercontent.com\/4bbae34d2f35a71d5195e09a7\/images\/f44bb38e-c5b3-f4ef-a93e-b9bc6162e5ba.jpg?resize=398%2C299&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nCollege Bound!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Congratulations to our seniors for completing an incredible four years of school and Writopia! Shout out to L\u00e9na Roy, our Director of Teen Programs, for spearheading the fabulous Creative Portfolio program, publications, and trips! And a special shout out to our Creative Portfolio and WriCampia seniors who have dedicated hours of writing, interning, editing, organizing, and traveling with us over the years:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n- Eliot Ageura y Arcas<\/li>
- Sahara Asher<\/li>
- Allie B.<\/li>
- Isabella Cai<\/li>
- Kayla Caruso<\/li>
- Alexis Chase<\/li>
- Ella Davis<\/li>
- Paloma Divina<\/li>
- Freda Dong<\/li>
- Josh Lancman<\/li>
- Jamie Landeau <\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
- Charlotte Lipman<\/li>
- Lea Karian<\/li>
- Nour Mokbel<\/li>
- Indira Moshi<\/li>
- Roxie Nelson<\/li>
- Givi Fleuristal-Muheto<\/li>
- Shreya Ganguly<\/li>
- Sanja Greenawalt<\/li>
- Stephanie Groves <\/li>
- Jonah Gulisano<\/li>
- Camil Piperni<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
- James Plummer<\/span><\/li>
- Eli Prager<\/li>
- Soap Robinson<\/li>
- Annalise Ross<\/li>
- Franny Shaloum<\/li>
- Ruby Sinder<\/li>
- Ricky Smith<\/li>
- Julia Volpp<\/li>
- Emma Wasserman <\/li>
- Celeste Wilbur<\/li>
- Bernice Zhao<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
We have loved EVERY second of supporting your creative writing and college essay writing processes. So far, our college essay<\/a> writers have shared with us that they will be freshmen at the following amazing institutions in the fall: <\/p>\n\n\n\n- Berkeley<\/li>
- Boston College<\/li>
- Bucknell, Arts Merit Scholarship in Creative Writing<\/li>
- Chapman (Screenwriting)<\/li>
- George Washington University (Honors Program)<\/li>
- Hampshire<\/li>
- McGill<\/li>
- Muhlenberg<\/li>
- Northwestern<\/li>
- NYU Tisch Dramatic Script<\/li>
- Pace<\/li>
- Pomona<\/li>
- Princeton<\/li>
- Smith<\/li>
- Stanford<\/li>
- SUNY Oneonta<\/li>
- SUNY Purchase<\/li>
- Tufts<\/li>
- University of Chicago<\/li>
- University of Toronto<\/li>
- Vanderbilt University (Posse Scholar)<\/li>
- Vassar<\/li>
- Yale<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n- Tara Prakash<\/strong>\u2014became Maryland\u2019s First State Youth Poet Laureate <\/a>and won eight Scholastic gold keys, seven silver keys, and eleven honorable mentions for poetry, personal essay, critical essay, flash fiction, and short story. Other awards she received: 2024 Montgomery County Youth Poet Laureate; National YoungArts Awards in Creative Nonfiction; Leonard L. Milberg ’53 High School Poetry Prize; DePaul’s Blue Book Best American High School Writing. She was also published in Blue Marble Review<\/em>. Congratulations on all!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
- Dina Lusztig Noyes<\/strong>\u2014who has been selected to participate in Writopia’s Advanced Writing Seminar (AWS) at the New School and this summer at Pratt became Santa Cruz\u2019s First Youth Poet Laureate<\/a>! We are so proud of your dedication, passion, community engagement, and talent!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
- Maria Rojas<\/strong>\u2014was awarded a Gold and Silver Key from the Scholastic Awards and selected as a student speaker to present at the Gold Key Award Ceremony in New York City. She was also published in The Literary Kaleidoscope<\/em>, her school’s literary magazine, and served as the co-creative designer and editor of her school\u2019s literary publication. Congratulations on an amazing year!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Maria Rojas speaking at the Scholastic Awards Ceremony. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n “Every Monday night, Maria comes with a smile from her workshop. She has built a fantastic community at Writopia Lab and made friends with her classmates and instructor. She has had the chance to submit her writing to multiple places, learning the lesson of what rejection feels like as well as acceptance. She won a Gold and Silver key at the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and she thanks her instructor Amy because she supported her with the submission process. Amy also supported her as she wrote and memorized a speech to give at the ceremony. Maria now wishes to minor in poetry in her college career. So, thank you all for allowing so many teens to have the chance to create their fondness for writing. Maria would never have known this side of herself without the support of Writopia Lab!” – Vilma, Maria’s mom <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
- Cora Anderson’s<\/strong> piece “First Snow of the Year” was published in The New York Times<\/em><\/a> as a winner of the Teen Tiny Memoirs Contest. Her piece \u201cCalifornia\u201d was published in Rust & Moth<\/em><\/a>.<\/li>
- Emi Shapiro<\/strong> was a finalist for The New York Times’<\/em><\/a> Teen Tiny Memoirs Contest.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n- Sonali Browning <\/strong>was featured as a rising poet in the online newspaper The Mamaroneck Observer<\/em><\/a>; two silver keys and one honorable mention in poetry; and also won first place in the Lifting Up Westchester Essay Contest<\/a> and received $500. Sonali also had a poem featured in the Floodwaters Documentary<\/a> created by Westchester’s poet laureate BK Fischer, and three poems accepted for publication in Creative Communications, and her poems and stories were selected for publication in two Writopia publications: Turning the Page<\/a> anthology and Frightopia<\/a>. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
- Shreya Ganguly<\/strong> won a Scholastic Gold Key for her senior writing portfolio. Her poem \u201cWe Sit Close\u201d was published in Parallax<\/em><\/a>, and other works have been published in Interlochen Review<\/a> and is forthcoming in GSU’s Anthology of Outstanding High School Writing, Fledge and Writopia’s social justice anthology Turning the Page, We, the Treasured.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
(From left to right) Sonali Browning, Aravah Chaiken, James Plummer, and Shreya Ganguly on the train to DC for the Creative Portfolio Retreat!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n - Ava Barcelona<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Gold Medal<\/strong>\u00a0for “ISANG BANSA, DALAWANG DIWA (ONE NATION, TWO SPIRITS).”<\/li>
- Nicola Bailey<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Silver Medal\u00a0<\/strong>for “Boxes.”<\/li>
- James Blenko<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Gold Medal<\/strong>\u00a0for “The Foreigner.”<\/li>
- Wyatt Foster\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic Gold Medal<\/strong> in Critical Essay for his nuclear semiotics project.<\/li>
- Gabe Horowitz<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Silver Medal\u00a0<\/strong>for “Porcine Psychopathy: Peppa Pig’s Mosaic of Evil.”<\/li>
- Yoonsuh Kim<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Gold Medal\u00a0<\/strong>for “Pigeon Clouds” and a\u00a0Silver Medal\u00a0<\/strong>for “Letters to my Mother.”<\/li>
- Olivia Romano<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Gold Medal<\/strong>\u00a0for “Capirotada Recipe” and a\u00a0Silver Medal\u00a0<\/strong>for “Car Radio.”<\/li>
- Twyla Shand<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Silver Medal<\/strong>\u00a0for “Empty-Handed.”<\/li>
- Ruby Sinder<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Silver Medal<\/strong>\u00a0for\u00a0“Always”;\u00a0two Scholastic gold keys, one silver key, and two honorable mentions for her poetry;\u00a0and was published in\u00a0Millennium High School\u2019s lit mag<\/a>.<\/li>
- Annabel Zhou<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Gold Medal\u00a0<\/strong>for\u00a0“Miracles.”<\/li>
- Hollyn Alpert\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0poem “Gold to Gray,” won the Society of Young Inklings book contest and will be published in an anthology; and won a gold key in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.<\/li>
- Carmen Ashworth<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic silver key for her science fiction and fantasy piece.<\/li>
- Zoe Becker\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic gold key for her personal essay and two honorable mentions for her short story and flash fiction piece.<\/li>
- Claire Breslow<\/strong>\u00a0won a\u00a0Scholastic silver key in short story and three honorable mentions in poetry, flash fiction, and novel writing.<\/li>
- Olivia Brown’s<\/strong>\u00a0poetry was recognized in a school poetry contest.<\/li>
- Isabella Cai<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic silver key in poetry and personal essay, as well as an honorable mention for humor.<\/li>
- Dakota Cameron<\/strong>\u00a0won three Scholastic honorable mentions for flash fiction, short story, and personal essay and memoir.<\/li>
- Aravah Chaiken<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic gold key for critical essay, two silver keys for short story, and one honorable mention for science fiction and fantasy.<\/li>
- Alexis Chase<\/strong>: The prologue to a novella in progress was published in Alexis\u2019 school’s literary magazine, the\u00a0Eidolon<\/em><\/a>, and in the newsletter of the\u00a0Washington Writers’ Publishing House<\/em><\/a>.<\/li>
- Nell Choi\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic gold key for personal essay and an honorable mention for flash fiction. Nell is a published author, an artist, and an activist. Check her out\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/li>
- Blake Feinstein\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic silver key in humor and an honorable mention in personal essay and memoir.<\/li>
- Michaela Frey<\/strong>\u00a0won three honorable mentions from the Scholastic Awards for Poetry; and had four of her poems and stories accepted and published in\u00a0<\/span>Teen Ink<\/em>.<\/span><\/li>
- Devra Goldhaber<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic silver key for flash fiction, as well as a silver key and two honorable mentions for poetry.<\/li>
- Ananya Govind\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic honorable mention for her short story.<\/li>
- Sanja Greenawalt\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic gold key in critical essay and novel writing, as well as a silver key in personal essay and memoir.<\/li>
- Stephanie Groves<\/strong>\u00a0won an honorable mention for her Scholastic writing portfolio.<\/li>
- Thuy Holder-Vinh<\/strong>\u00a0received an Honorable Mention from the Brooklyn Public Library\u2019s 2024 Teen Writing Contest & Ned Vizzini Prize for her short story, \u201cWonderland.\u201d [Story available at BPL branches this summer.]\u00a0<\/li>
- Joanne Hwang\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0op-ed\u00a0\u201cReimagining Writing at Stuyvesant\u201d<\/a>\u00a0was published in\u00a0The Spectator.<\/em><\/li>
- Naomi Jeske<\/strong>\u00a0won one Scholastic gold key, three silver keys, and four honorable mentions for poetry.<\/li>
- Lea Karian<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic silver key for her writing portfolio; a silver key in personal essay and memoir; and one gold key, one silver key and five honorable mentions for poetry.<\/li>
- Samantha Katz<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic silver key for short story and an honorable mention for novel writing.\u00a0<\/li>
- Katie Kim\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic gold key in short story, a gold key and honorable mention in science fiction, a silver key and honorable mention in poetry, and an honorable mention in novel writing.<\/li>
- Zack Lam<\/strong>\u00a0won two Scholastic silver keys and an honorable mention for his poetry and critical essay.<\/li>
- Emma Laurence\u00a0<\/strong>won a\u00a0Scholastic silver key in poetry.<\/li>
- Chloe Lee<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0gold key, a silver key, and three honorable mentions for poetry.<\/li>
- Koi Lerner\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>poem\u00a0\u201cSlaughter\u201d<\/a>\u00a0was published in\u00a0Teen Ink<\/em>.<\/li>
- Henry Lomma’s\u00a0<\/strong>short story\u00a0“Trish”<\/a>\u00a0was published in\u00a0Blue Marble Review<\/em>; “Count George” published in the\u00a0Frightopia<\/a>\u00a0anthology.<\/li>
- Nick Marino\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic gold key and honorable mention in science fiction and fantasy, a silver key and honorable mention in dramatic script, and two honorable mentions in flash fiction.<\/li>
- Oona McPhearson<\/strong>\u00a0won a\u00a0Scholastic gold key and silver key for short story.<\/li>
- Andrew Nam\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic gold key for critical essay.<\/li>
- Izzy Oh\u00a0<\/strong>won two Scholastic silver keys and an honorable mention for her poetry, flash fiction, and critical essay; and won second place in the Mary Ann Hutchinson Memorial Youth Story Contest.<\/li>
- Viraaj Raofield<\/strong>\u00a0won three Scholastic honorable mentions for novel writing and poetry.<\/li>
- Nina Rogers<\/strong> won a 2024 Honorable Mention from the Scholastic\u00a0Writing Awards for her short story Pete & Madeline.<\/li>
- Annalise Ross\u00a0<\/strong>won a Scholastic silver key in personal essay and memoir as well as dramatic script.<\/li>
- Zahra Sadoughi<\/strong>\u00a0won a\u00a0Scholastic gold key and American Voices Nomination for her poetry and a silver key for her personal essay and memoir.<\/li>
- Hana Sakr<\/strong>\u00a0won three Scholastic silver keys for poetry.<\/li>
- Fenley Scurlock<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic gold key and honorable mention for humor and science fiction & fantasy.<\/li>
- Emi Shapiro<\/strong>\u00a0won two Scholastic\u00a0silver keys for her short story and personal essay, as well as an honorable mention for critical essay.<\/li>
- Divya Sharma<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0silver and honorable mention in critical essay.<\/li>
- Emily Shull<\/strong>\u00a0won a silver key for flash fiction and two honorable mentions for critical essay.<\/li>
- Avantika Singh<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic silver key in critical essay.<\/li>
- Lucy Steward<\/strong>\u00a0won two Scholastic silver keys and an honorable mention for critical essay as well as a silver key and honorable mention for poetry.<\/li>
- Alexandra Steyn<\/strong>\u00a0won three\u00a0Scholastic silver keys for critical essay, a silver key for short story, a silver key and honorable mention for flash fiction, and an honorable mention for personal essay and memoir.<\/li>
- Hugh Vickery<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic gold key for his poetry.<\/li>
- Jo Wallace-Segall<\/strong>\u00a0has two pieces of literary fiction, \u201cThere,\u201d and \u201cCoconut Juice” to be published\u00a0in the forthcoming issue of The Center School’s literary magazine.<\/li>
- Maxanne Wallace-Segall<\/strong>\u00a0won one Scholastic gold key and one honorable mention for journalism and one gold key for her fiction. Her opinion pieces, \u201cAre You Ok?: Muslim & Jewish Connection,\u201d \u201cPeace is Possible,\u201d and \u201cHow to Celebrate Passover During a War,\u201d\u00a0 were published in\u00a0The Spectator<\/em><\/a>.<\/li>
- Lilia Werve\u00a0<\/strong>won an honorable mention from the 2024 Scholastic Awards for her poetry (and a Gold Medal last year!)<\/li>
- Nirali Yedendra <\/strong>was published in Stone Soup<\/em> twice for the pieces “My Liberating Brain<\/a>”\u00a0and\u00a0“You Own It<\/a>“.<\/li>
- Jonathan Zhang\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0essay, \u201cThe Woman on the New Quarter\u201d, received a Scholastic Honorable Mention Award.<\/li>
- And congratulations to the following teens on completing their first year of our selective\u00a0<\/strong>Creative Portfolio program!
- Mariela Alschuler, Henry Arroyo,\u00a0Sahara Asher, Advika Asthana, Mason Avery, Lilah Baez, Nicola Bailey, Julia Barney, Owen Berland,\u00a0Sonali Browning, Ian Burch, Isabella Cai, Megan Chan,\u00a0Emily Charlton, Mahnaz Daud-Basrai, Sydney Davis,\u00a0Michaela Frey, Shreya Ganguly, Maya Graff, Miriam Hale, Thuy Holder-Vinh,\u00a0Sara Horowitz, Madelyn Hsieh,\u00a0Emma Knisbacher, Avni Krishna,\u00a0Maxwell Lally,\u00a0Annika Lamberti, Joshua Lancman,\u00a0Evie Lee, Serine Lee, Hunter Maguire, Edy Meyers,\u00a0Brendan Moran, Netta Nov,\u00a0Linda Palmer,\u00a0Harper Ragle, Viraaj Raofield,\u00a0Zahra Sadoughi,\u00a0Lili Sella,\u00a0Cate Shanahan,\u00a0Aashvi Singh,\u00a0Alexandra Steyn,\u00a0Ryan Tang, Yanic Valbrune, Maxanne Wallace-Segall, & Celeste Wilbur<\/li>
- Shout out to the dedicated Eva Djordjevic for completing her second year of Creative Portfolio while Zooming in from Spain!<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
College Bound!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Congratulations to our seniors for completing an incredible four years of school and Writopia! Shout out to L\u00e9na Roy, our Director of Teen Programs, for spearheading the fabulous Creative Portfolio program, publications, and trips! And a special shout out to our Creative Portfolio and WriCampia seniors who have dedicated hours of writing, interning, editing, organizing, and traveling with us over the years:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n- Eliot Ageura y Arcas<\/li>
- Sahara Asher<\/li>
- Allie B.<\/li>
- Isabella Cai<\/li>
- Kayla Caruso<\/li>
- Alexis Chase<\/li>
- Ella Davis<\/li>
- Paloma Divina<\/li>
- Freda Dong<\/li>
- Josh Lancman<\/li>
- Jamie Landeau <\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
- Charlotte Lipman<\/li>
- Lea Karian<\/li>
- Nour Mokbel<\/li>
- Indira Moshi<\/li>
- Roxie Nelson<\/li>
- Givi Fleuristal-Muheto<\/li>
- Shreya Ganguly<\/li>
- Sanja Greenawalt<\/li>
- Stephanie Groves <\/li>
- Jonah Gulisano<\/li>
- Camil Piperni<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
- James Plummer<\/span><\/li>
- Eli Prager<\/li>
- Soap Robinson<\/li>
- Annalise Ross<\/li>
- Franny Shaloum<\/li>
- Ruby Sinder<\/li>
- Ricky Smith<\/li>
- Julia Volpp<\/li>
- Emma Wasserman <\/li>
- Celeste Wilbur<\/li>
- Bernice Zhao<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
We have loved EVERY second of supporting your creative writing and college essay writing processes. So far, our college essay<\/a> writers have shared with us that they will be freshmen at the following amazing institutions in the fall: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Berkeley<\/li>
- Boston College<\/li>
- Bucknell, Arts Merit Scholarship in Creative Writing<\/li>
- Chapman (Screenwriting)<\/li>
- George Washington University (Honors Program)<\/li>
- Hampshire<\/li>
- McGill<\/li>
- Muhlenberg<\/li>
- Northwestern<\/li>
- NYU Tisch Dramatic Script<\/li>
- Pace<\/li>
- Pomona<\/li>
- Princeton<\/li>
- Smith<\/li>
- Stanford<\/li>
- SUNY Oneonta<\/li>
- SUNY Purchase<\/li>
- Tufts<\/li>
- University of Chicago<\/li>
- University of Toronto<\/li>
- Vanderbilt University (Posse Scholar)<\/li>
- Vassar<\/li>
- Yale<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- James Plummer<\/span><\/li>
- Nicola Bailey<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Silver Medal\u00a0<\/strong>for “Boxes.”<\/li>
- Ava Barcelona<\/strong>\u00a0won a Scholastic\u00a0Gold Medal<\/strong>\u00a0for “ISANG BANSA, DALAWANG DIWA (ONE NATION, TWO SPIRITS).”<\/li>
- Shreya Ganguly<\/strong> won a Scholastic Gold Key for her senior writing portfolio. Her poem \u201cWe Sit Close\u201d was published in Parallax<\/em><\/a>, and other works have been published in Interlochen Review<\/a> and is forthcoming in GSU’s Anthology of Outstanding High School Writing, Fledge and Writopia’s social justice anthology Turning the Page, We, the Treasured.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- Emi Shapiro<\/strong> was a finalist for The New York Times’<\/em><\/a> Teen Tiny Memoirs Contest.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- Cora Anderson’s<\/strong> piece “First Snow of the Year” was published in The New York Times<\/em><\/a> as a winner of the Teen Tiny Memoirs Contest. Her piece \u201cCalifornia\u201d was published in Rust & Moth<\/em><\/a>.<\/li>
- Maria Rojas<\/strong>\u2014was awarded a Gold and Silver Key from the Scholastic Awards and selected as a student speaker to present at the Gold Key Award Ceremony in New York City. She was also published in The Literary Kaleidoscope<\/em>, her school’s literary magazine, and served as the co-creative designer and editor of her school\u2019s literary publication. Congratulations on an amazing year!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- Dina Lusztig Noyes<\/strong>\u2014who has been selected to participate in Writopia’s Advanced Writing Seminar (AWS) at the New School and this summer at Pratt became Santa Cruz\u2019s First Youth Poet Laureate<\/a>! We are so proud of your dedication, passion, community engagement, and talent!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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