Penguin Random House | New York, 06/11/2024

2024 Creative Writing Award: 1,000 Students Entered The Competition

Penguin Random House U.S. has announced the six winners of its 2024 Creative Writing Award. More than 1,000 high school students from nearly 900 schools across the U.S. participated. The U.S. publishing group has organized the annual writing competition for more than 30 years, with support from the organization We Need Diverse Books.

More than 1,000 students from nearly 900 high schools in 50 states and two U.S. territories submitted entries for this year’s Creative Writing Award, a traditional writing competition that Penguin Random House U.S. has been organizing for more than 30 years. When the six winners were announced a few days ago, the first “Freedom of Expression Award” winner was among them. The award was created specifically in response to the increasing number of book bans across the country. Applicants for the new award were asked to answer the following question: “Tell us about a banned book that has changed your life and why.”

The inaugural “Freedom of Expression Award” went to Allison Curletto from Fremont High School in Plain City, Utah, for her essay about “A Wrinkle In Time” by Madeline LʼEngle. This year’s other Creative Writing Award winners are Sofia Hernandez from Stuyvesant High School in New York (“Michelle Obama Award for Memoir”), Anika Bukkapatnam from Woodbridge Academy Magnet School in Woodbridge, New Jersey (“Amanda Gorman Award for Poetry”), Kellen Hunnicutt from West High School in Salt Lake City, Utah (“Maya Angelou Award for Spoken Word, Fiction & Drama”), Ella Ferrell from Oviedo High School in Oviedo, Florida (“Fiction & Drama”), and Amber Shen from Stuyvesant High School in New York (“NYC Entrant Award”).

College scholarships for the winners

Claire von Schilling, EVP, Director Corporate Communications and Social Responsibility, Penguin Random House said, “Every year, we are blown away by the caliber of talent of our Creative Writing Award winners, and this year was no exception. Together with We Need Diverse Books, we are excited to uplift these captivating and diverse stories—and proud to champion young people’s voices in the face of rampant book bans and censorship efforts.”

The six winners will each receive a $10,000 college scholarship and a week of summer professional development from Penguin Random House, including one-on-one coaching from some of the industry’s best editors, networking workshops, a panel about career opportunities in publishing, and a fireside chat with a Penguin Random House author. The week concludes with a virtual awards ceremony. Penguin Random House’s partner in the Creative Writing Award is the organization We Need Diverse Books, which campaigns for more diversity in children’s and young adult literature.