Submissions for the We Read Youth Voices Writing Contest closed on June 30, 2023. We received over 140 submissions from ages 5 all the way up to 18. Each submission has been read and carefully reviewed by our panel of community judges. If your submission has been selected for the anthology, you have been notified via email or phone call. Congratulations to this year's winners!
Overall Winners:
- Grand Prize Winner: Diya Dhawal, 15, for The War of A Million Years
- Runner Up: Hazel Krueger, 11, for The Strength to Move Forward
- Runner Up: Eliza Thwing, 13, for Time
Age Group Winners:
- Age Group Winner (13-18): Monona Faasuamalie, 13, for She
- Age Group Winner (Ages 10-12): Ronav Vasanth, 10, for Together We Move
- Age Group Winner (9 and under): Olivia Lubcke, 9 for Upside Down
If you have not been selected for the anthology, we encourage you to keep writing and submit again next year! We loved reading everyone's interpretation of the theme and are sorry that we cannot fit everyone in the anthology.
2023 Youth Voices Anthology + Wisconsin Book Festival Author Reception
The judges have selected an incredible 52 pieces to be included in a print and digital version of this year's anthology! The print version will be available at all Madison Public Library locations and at all Madison Metropolitan School District library locations following publication this fall.
All featured young authors will have the opportunity to come pick up their copy of the We Read Youth Voices Anthology on Saturday, October 21 in the Children’s Area on the Lower Level of Central Library as part of the Four-Day Celebration for the Wisconsin Book Festival.
The book festival is honoring and encouraging these young authors with a short reception from 10-10:30AM. Donuts, coffee, and other light refreshments will be provided and a brief Q&A with the grand prize winner and two runners-up will take place as part of the reception. Families are invited to stay afterwards for a youth-centered Wisconsin Book Festival author event, too.
The Judges
We want to thank our panel of community judges for their hard work in carefully reading and considering each submission. Our judges represent a wide swath of the literary community here in Madison:
- Madeleine Bohn, our youth ambassador for the writing contest and the former City of Madison Youth Poet Laureate
- Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu, Forward Madison FC Midfielder
- a Briarpatch & Teens Like Us Councilor
- Kadjata Bah, Journalist at the Simpson Street Press and 2023 Youth Journalist of the Year
- Casem AbuLughod, A Senior Teaching Artists at Whoopensocker
- Kiersten Kansteiner, a Bilingual Resource Teacher at Nuestro Mundo school