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Congratulations to the Winners of our Annual Writing Contest! | Posted by:
Hannah Lackoff on March 31, 2026
Congratulations to the Winners of our Annual Writing Contest!
We are thrilled to announce the winners of the Patten Free Library’s 2026 Annual Writing Contest! We can’t wait to share the winning pieces with the public in our literary magazine, Pharos, which will be published in April.
The 11th Annual Writing Contest was open to writers of Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Poetry in grades 6-12 and adults. Our judges had an especially difficult time choosing from all the excellent submissions, and would like to congratulate everyone who entered, as would the staff of the Patten Free Library!
It is no small thing to be brave enough to share your words with the world, and you are all winners in our book (and we know books!). Congratulations to everyone who entered!
6-9 Grade
First Place: Butch and Dusty by Georgia Leeman
Runner Up: Don’t Wake Up by Haley Dionne
10-12 Grade
First Place: Whispering Woods by Emma Goodenow
Runner Up: Slimy Celebration by Catherine Davis
Adult
First Place: See the World by James Melita
Runner Up: No Flight by Stephen A Hollenbeck
6-9 Grade
First Place: Project Victory! by Alice Harrington
Runner Up: The Significance of Black by Joshua Harford
10-12 Grade
First Place: I Missed You by Megan Cressey
Adult
First Place: Flaco by Shelley Randall
Runner Up: Next of Kin (NOK) Notification and
Survivor Assistance (SA) Officer Experience
by Douglass Robb
10-12 Grade
First Place: This Old Dog by Julianna Gustafson
Runner Up: Womb by Rory Leeman
Adult
First Place: Unexpected by K.C. Morton Carpenter
Runner Up: Winter’s Sway by Marianne Senechal
