Ceara Rose McCaffrey — Gold Key Award Winner!

I’ve been sitting on this until we actually had the award in our hands but on Monday my daughter, Ceara, received her official Gold Key Award and Certificate from the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers.  The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are sponsored by many, including Scholastic books (hence the name).

Ceara was one of 1300 winners from a pool of 140,000 entrants.  Past recipients include Robert Redford, Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Joyce Carol Oates, Richard Avedon, and Truman Capote.

Ceara’s mother, Jenna, discovered the awards and encouraged Ceara to enter while the actual entry was composed on Ceara’s aunt Gigi’s computer, proofed up at Dragonhold, sent via courier from the local post office in Ashford (Ireland) with the entry fee being provided by none other than the distinguished Anne McCaffrey herself (they need a US check and I hadn’t brought any with me).

From their website:

We are proud to announce that across the country more than 140,000 works of art and writing were submitted to The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards of 2009 by students in grades 7–12. The Awards are the nation’s longest-running, largest, most prestigious recognition program for creative teenagers in the visual and literary arts.

While the 2009 deadlines are now closed, there will be another contest in 2010 open for Artists and Writers in grades 7–12.  If you are or have any children in those grades, I highly recommend that they consider entering.

The winners of 2008 and previous years are collected in anthologies “The Best Teen Writing of 2008” (2007, 2006, etc.) which are not only great reading but a good start for anyone interested in seeing what makes a winning story.