D.C. Student Takes Top Honors in Gaithersburg Book Festival Short Story Contest

D.C. Student Takes Top Honors in Gaithersburg Book Festival Short Story Contest 

Rockville and Manassas Teens Win Second and Third Prizes 

Gaithersburg, Md. – May 21, 2012 – Rachel Page, a freshman at Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, D.C., took first prize in the 2013 Gaithersburg Book Festival short story contest for high school students with her story about a character who each year watches someone she knows be sent to the moon and not come back.

Second prize went to Walter Johnson High School junior Megan Baldwin from Rockville, Md., for her story, “My Letter,” and third prize went to Osbourn Park High School junior Becky Sutherland from Manassas, Va., for her story, “Where Astronauts Go.” Baldwin’s story also garnered the designation of “Fan Favorite,”, which was determined based on voting on the Gaithersburg Book Festival website.

The winners were announced Saturday at the fourth annual Gaithersburg Book Festival.

New York Times best-selling author Caroline Leavitt (“Pictures of You” and “Is This Tomorrow”), who was a featured author at both the 2011 and 2013 Gaithersburg Book Festival, provided three opening lines from which students had to choose when writing their stories and served as the final judge.

“Choosing a winner was so difficult,” Leavitt said. “The 12 finalists were all remarkable writers. I struggled mightily between all the choices, often torn between several stories for hours. What pushed one over another was often a single image or one perfect line of dialogue. It was that close, that difficult to choose.”

Contest finalists also included Jennifer Baik from Centennial High School (Howard County); Rebecca Danaceau from Northwest High School (Montgomery County); Casey Early  from Robinson Secondary School (Fairfax County); Mia Harris  from Washington Waldorf School (Fairfax County); Nur Simsek from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (Fairfax County); Cary Spector from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (Montgomery County); Caroline E. Steel from Walter Johnson High School (Montgomery County); Devin Taylor from Northwood High School (Montgomery County)  and Joey Vaughan from Oakton High School (Fairfax County). This year’s finalists included two students – Baik and Spector – who were also finalists in the 2012 contest. 

“My favorite moment of the day was presenting the awards for this contest and meeting the students,” Leavitt added. “After the formal presentation, two of the students came up to me to ask about their work and it was just a thrill to encourage them. I am so, so honored to be able to do that.”

The contest drew a record number of entries from public, private, and homeschooled students in 16 jurisdictions throughout D.C., Maryland and Virginia.  Jurisdictions included the Maryland counties of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Howard and Montgomery; and the Virginia counties of Arlington, Chesapeake, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Fairfax, Fauquier, Goochland, King George and Prince William. 

The finalists’ stories are available to read online at: http://gaithersburgbookfestival.org/gbf-programs/short-story-entries/

Plans already are underway for the 2014 short story contest. Opening lines will be written by 2013 Gaithersburg Book Festival featured author Jon Methven (“This Is Your Captain Speaking”) and will be made available to students in September. Winners will be announced at the fifth annual Gaithersburg Book Festival on May 17, 2014.

About the Gaithersburg Book Festival

The Gaithersburg Book Festival is an annual all-day celebration of books, writers and literary excellence.  About to enter its fifth year, the Festival has become one of the premier literary events in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.  The Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 17, 2014, on the grounds of Gaithersburg City Hall, in Olde Towne Gaithersburg, Md. Activities include author appearances, discussions and book signings; writing workshops; a Children’s Village; onsite book sales; literary exhibitors and food, drink, ice cream and more. Admission is free.  For more information please visit www.gaithersburgbookfestival.org.