This is the twentieth year of Teen Voices magazine, and to highlight the brilliant work of teen girl writers, we launched our first-ever international "20 under 20" short-story contest. Girls were asked to answer, in 1,200 words or less, the question: “What does the word ‘twenty’ mean to you?” We encouraged girls to write about anything that this word inspired in them, and told them that we were especially interested in stories about growing up, succeeding, overcoming difficulty, and changing the world. We promised that the two best stories would be published in our print magazine; the runner-up and the 17 semifinalists would be published online.
In the lead-up to the contest, Lucy Atkins, an author, freelance journalist, and book critic for the British newspaper The Sunday Times, provided a series of online short-story writing workshops to encourage girls to write. And write they did! The response was incredible. We received 75 stories from 24 states and 6 countries outside the U.S--Taiwan, Canada, England, South Africa, Egypt, and South Korea. Teen girls wrote about escaping domestic abuse, auditioning for the Korean version of “American Idol,” losing loved ones, finding loved ones, religion, politics, science fiction, and school. Girls as young as 13 sent in gripping stories of triumph and tragedy.
And now, the moment we've all been waiting for! The top two winners, who will each receive a Kindle, are Pavi Chance, of Edmonds, Washington, and Kay MacPhail of Arlington, Massachusetts. Our judge, the best-selling novelist Anita Diamant, whose book The Red Tent has been published in 25 countries, chose the two winners. Here's what she says about the prize-winning stories: "Pavi Chance (13) and Kay MacPhail (14) wrote stories that convey vivid scenes and complicated characters in just a few short pages. Pavi and Kay both use the first person, although in very different ways, to express intense emotions that really draw in the reader. These are amazing pieces of writing--smart, funny, and mature. I look forward to hearing from these voices again."
The winning stories will be showcased in the fall/winter issue of our print magazine. Until then, here's a sneak preview:
From Pavi Chance:
“Welcome to Hampton,” says the sign on the off-ramp. At least, I think it says that. Auntie Ivy is driving so fast that the scenery is just a blur. To be honest, I could care less what this town is called anyway because I’m much more intent on not losing my lunch all over the back of Auntie’s frizzy mushroom of hair. That wouldn’t exactly be the best way to start this…what should I call this, anyway? A vacation? The car careens down a gravel road and finally slows to a stop at the end of the driveway. We all pile out of the cramped car and take a deep breath of fresh forest air. I scrutinize our surroundings. A lopsided house with peeling yellow paint sags in a field of yellow-brown grass… “Don’t just stand there, come inside!” Auntie wraps her wrinkled, bony arm around my shoulder and herds us over to the house...
From Kay MacPhail:
My mother broke every dish in the house that day. More than twenty years ago, when I had just turned seven. The dishes had been Nana’s when Nana still fancied floral print. At the time she was into chickens, which was part of the problem. She kept five of them in her backyard, where she paid me to gather speckled eggs. “Sweetpea,” my Nana had said. “Those chickens are my babies. They provide for me and love me, though they cause me no grief and gave me no stretch marks.” I ducked into the chicken coop. Small cracks of light made patterns on the straw, like bar codes. “It’s too bad Pa was allergic.” I said. Although he and Nana were still married, Pa had moved to his summer house in Maine full time because the chickens had made his nose itch. Nana sighed, pacing behind the coop in her squeaky rubber galoshes. “It is, it is,” she said…
But that's not all. Our first runner-up, Lally Ryan (18), of Loveland, Ohio, receives a year-long subscription to Teen Voices. And beginning on June 6, each week our website will feature one story written by each of our runners-up. Congratulations to all of our winners:
Top Winners:
- Pavi Chance, 13; Edmunds, WA
- Kay MacPhail, 14; Arlington, MA
First runner up:
- Ryann Lally, 18; Loveland, OH
17 Semi Finalists:
- Ruby Mayer, 13; Newton, MA
- An-Li Bogan, 14; Norman, OK
- Katelyn Farthing, 16; Forest, VA
- Emma Horn,16; Arlington, MA
- Annie Cheng, 16; Hsinchu, Taiwan
- Emily Birnbaum, 14; Bethesda, MD
- Anne LoVerso, 15; Southborough, MA
- Catherine Perloff, 13; Beachwood, OH
- Amelia Martin, 19; Upper Nyack, NY
- Kathryn Puzzanghera, 17; Winchester, MA
- Sara Beg, 19; Woodcliff Lake, NJ
- Marisa Femia, 16; Kings Park, NY
- Samantha Poirier, 17; Medford, MA
- Jisoo Park, 15; Seoul, South Korea
- Paige Watts, 18; Owens Cross Roads, AL
- Stephanie Ward, 13; Marlborough, MA
- Evelyna Kaye, 15; Ontario, Canada
Stay tuned for the fall/winter issue of Teen Voices magazine to read the prize-winning stories from Pavi Chance and Kay MacPhail. And don't forget to check out our website in June for the featured stories from our runners-up.
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