Congratulations to the Winners of the 2024 Awesome Authors Writing Contest!

OTTAWA- Ottawa Public Library is thrilled to announce the winners of the Awesome Authors 2024 youth writing contest, an annual event celebrating the creativity and literary talents of young writers across the community. 

This year's contest saw many submissions from budding authors between the ages of 9 and 18, all of whom showcased exceptional storytelling skills and creativity. After careful consideration, our panel of judges selected the winners in various categories: short story, poetry, or comic in English, and nouvelle, poésie, or bande dessinée in French. 

The Library gratefully acknowledges the generous financial support of the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library Association. Without their continuous support, this contest would not be possible. 

The winning entries will be published in an anthology called Pot-Pourri, to be released later this year. Visit the OPL website for more information.   

Congratulations to all the winners! The official list of winners, organized by writing category, with each winner’s name, the title of their work, age and school follows this announcement.   

For the young scribes who would like to be part of this adventure known as Awesome Authors in 2025, please keep an eye on our website and social media for updates about the contest. See you next year! 

Pot-Pourri Book Cover Design 

Léa Labossière Vobornik (15), Couverture Pot-pourri 2024 [École Secondaire Catholique Garneau]

9-12 categories:

Poetry (English) 

1. Shreyas Nistandra (12), Silent Dissonance
2. Jasper Demand (10), Freedom 
3. Abdullah Alrefaai (12), Hope [Al-Furqan School]

Honourable Mentions

1. Julie Guilbault (12), The Wise Old Owl [Jack Donohue Public School]
2. Elena Mann (12), Thoughts that linger [Goulbourn Middle School]
3. Elle Pesa (12), A Poem to the Lady Nature [Homeschool]

Poésie (français)  

1. Kai Bhanji (12), Les poèmes
2. Camden Hennigar (12), Dans un battement d'ailes [École secondaire catholique Béatrice-Desloges]
3. Elise Depayras (12), Poussière de nuage 

Honourable Mention

1. Ohinikoba Caren Koumi (12), plus tard [École secondaire catholique Béatrice-Desloges]

Short Story (English) 

1. Asiyah Iqbal (12), The Three Dollar Hero [Al-Furqan School]
2. Jayden Kang (12), Scopophobia [Cedarview Middle School]
3. Orla McPhee (12), The Murder of Princesse Céline [Sir Robert Borden Intermediate] 

Honourable Mentions 

1. Gia Ditan (12), The Circus Lion [St. Marguerite d'Youville School] 
2. Edie Parker Hanington (10), First Day [Joan of Arc Academy]
3. Olivia Edmunds (12), My Brother's Secret [École secondaire catholique Pierre-Savard]

Nouvelle (français) 

1. Sara Mahdavi (12), Sous l'Ombre du mur [Henry Larson Elementary School]
2. Raphaël Rival (12), Le chien qui éternua [École élémentaire publique Trille des Bois] 
3. Gabrielle Rollin (12), Le journal d’une joueuse de hockey [École secondaire catholique Béatrice-Desloges] 

Honourable Mentions

1. Anabelle Parent (12), Une maison de devinettes [École secondaire catholique Béatrice-Desloges] 
2. Aurélie Lajoie (12), Une aventure bien spétiale [École secondaire catholique Béatrice-Desloges] 

Comic (English) 

1. Eila M. Hughes (10), Cassidy!!! [Terry Fox Elementary School] 
2. Ananya Elise Benjamin (11) & Julia Kuznetsova (11), The Adventures of Jeffrey [Jack Donohue Public School] 
3. Juliette Segal (11), Blind Sights [Knoxdale Public School] 

Honourable Mentions

1. Jenny Vo (11), The Magical Journey [St. Martin de Porres School]
2. Lucine Vardanyan (11), The Little Adventure [Jack Donohue Public School]
3. Caleb Rennie (10), The Great Toilet Caper 

Bande dessinée (français) 

1. Benoit Carisse (11), Fait-il chaud? [École élémentaire catholique des Voyageurs] 
2. Raphaël Rival (12), Atchoum! [École élémentaire publique Trille des Bois] 
3. Sofiane Ajaoun (9), "Je ne suis pas un écureuil! '' 

Honourable Mention

1. Victoria Racz (10), L'exercice [École catholique d’enseignement personnalisé Édouard Bond]

13-18 categories: 

Poetry (English) 

1. Janka Kaltenecker (13), Everything [Sacred Heart High School]  
2. Emily Chaisson (16), Plexiglass Coping [Colonel By Secondary School]
3. Adelyne Scheltema (15), Sun & Moon: Star-Crossed Lovers 

Honourable Mentions

1. Eli Ernst-Fontaine (16), Blasphemy [École secondaire publique De La Salle]
2. Kara van Sertima (14), Lovers 
3. Selina Yunfei Shuai (14), They Were Born To Tell Stories [Merivale High School] 

Poésie (français) 

1. Mustafa Abu-Dieh (15), "Chants de la Palestine" 
2. Cyprien Matondo Mihalache (16), Andalouse 
3. Selina Tung (14), Les amies de mon enfance [École secondaire publique Gisèle-Lalonde]

Honourable Mentions

1. Edith René (15), Couleurs [École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité]
2. Mehar Boparai (17), Les étoiles dans mon coeur [John McCrae Secondary School]

Short Story (English) 

1. Angela Yu (17), Left Behind [Earl of March Secondary School]
2. Lily Ferguson-Goodluck (17), A Beer, Boots with Spurs, and a Telephone Call [Nepean High School] 
3. Selina Yunfei Shuai (14), Oh, the Joys! [Merivale High School]

Honourable Mentions

1. Zaratamaraun Uduoise (15), Lady Larabelle [St. Francis Xavier High School] 
2. Moira Harper-McLaurin (16), A River and The Sea 
3. Emily Chaisson (16), Bridge of Glass [Colonel By Secondary School]

Nouvelle (français) 

1. Juliette Sarrazin (14), Toute une découverte [École secondaire catholique Garneau] 
2. Edith René (15), Les murmures du pénitent [École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité] 
3. Thomas Clay (16), Torse nu [École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité]

Honourable Mentions

1. Romain Levasseur (13), La perte [Lycée Claudel]
2. Aidan Abielmona (13), À travers la fenêtre [École secondaire publique Gisèle-Lalonde]

Comic (English) 

1. Sienna James (15), The Main Attraction [Longfields Davidson Heights Secondary School]
2. Aubrey Caron (13), Room 204 
3. Yina Ji (14) & Julianna Ma, Paradise 

Honourable Mentions

1. Sofia Cipcigan (14), I Got My Ion You [École secondaire publique Omer-Deslauriers]
2. Zachary Looman (17), Monkey and Bill Gator explain [St Pius X High School]
3. Olivia Gu (14), Five String Serenade [St. Joseph High School]

Bande dessinée (français) 

1. Isla Elieff (16) & Edith René (15), Invasion! 
2. Joseph Schmidt (17), Crise Philosophique [Lisgar Collegiate Institute]
3. Sofia Cipcigan (14), Monde magique [École secondaire publique Omer-Deslauriers]

 Honourable Mentions

1. Adèle Matte (13), Une matinée pluvieuse 
2. Katherine Schmidt (15), Chez-soi [Lisgar Collegiate Institute]
3. Dayna Xiao (16), Demain