Current News from the Kansas Authors Club

2025 Youth Contest Results

9/20/2025

The annual Youth Contest Awards were presented this year at the Kansas Book Festival at Washburn University in Topeka on September 20. We had a great turnout this year, both in youth entries, and in ceremony attendees. Many thanks to Tim Bascom and the Kansas Book Festival committee for collaborating with us to celebrate our young writers.

Here are the 2025 Results:

Fiction: Grades 3-4
1st - Fingal and the Famine by Joy Kelbe
2nd - A Surprising Tale by Minyan Hao
3rd - Apple Grove by Natalia Powell
HM - The Dog Who Changed My Life by Ira Gholap
HM - Trip of Beaches by Mithra Gobinath

Fiction: Grades 5-6
1st - Risk by Sophia Sun
2nd - Legends of Rohr (Chapter 1) by Emma Sauber (JM)
3rd - The Revolt by Myra Upadhyay
HM - The Shrieking Dragon by Ivy Sun
HM - Just Another Day by Bowen Carr
HM - Window to the World by Brek Levin

Fiction: Grades 7-8
1st - Artistic Expression by Aubrey Nelson
2nd - I shouldn't have woken up . . . by Avery Cao
3rd - Fairy Cake by Aubrey Nelson

Fiction: Grades 9-12
1st - Uprooted by Madeline Male (JM)
2nd - Thicker than Water by Garrett Li
3rd - Another Busy Day by Madeline Male (JM)
HM - Reflection by Maanya Mohan
HM - Mowaki by Arielle Li

Nonfiction: Grades 3-4
1st - The Mysteries of Outer Space!
by Rajvardhan Yerraguntla
2nd - WW1: Eastern Front vs. Western Front
by Vihaan Mohan
3rd - The House on Flint Street by Justyn Jacewitz
HM - Mexico by Olivia Wesp

Nonfiction: Grades 5-6
1st - The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health
by Sophia Sun
2nd - Native Americans and Bison by Ivy Sun
3rd - The Battle of Passchendaele by Corbin Barney
HM - Adopter by Madelyn Schroeder
HM - Manatees by Cassidy Simons
Nonfiction: Grades 7-8
1st - Performing Piano at Carnegie Hall by Eli Sun
2nd - Tennis by Avery Cao (JM)

Nonfiction: Grades 9-12
1st - What’s Left of Him and Me by Abigail Cox
2nd - A Beginner’s Guide to Modern Manners
by Madeline Male (JM)
3rd - How Greed Ruins the Characters in Fargo
by Adain Smith
HM - MLK Today by Maanya Mohan

Poetry: Grades 3-4
1st - Rainbows by Annie Han
2nd - Oceans at Dawn by Amelia Ellis
3rd - Magician by Kritika Upadhyay
HM - Hamara Bharat by Taksh Pidara
HM - The Beach by Avishi Roy

Poetry: Grades 5-6
1st - Art Gallery by Ezra Northerns
2nd - Cry by Myra Upadhyay
3rd - Endings by Kendall Falls
HM - School’s Out by Kendall Falls
HM - Snack Attack by Benjamin Carter

Poetry: Grades 7-8
1st - Beginnings by Cassie Northerns
2nd - Fall by Cassie Northerns
3rd - At the Beach by Elin Scherrer (JM)

Poetry: Grades 9-12
1st - sichuan hot pot by Arielle Li
2nd - Poetry Squared by Jonathan Agard
3rd - Grocery Store by Prisha Dalal
HM - My Dad is Calling by Andrew Smith
HM - A moment to myself by Adain Smith
HM - Old Scar, New Tar by Madeline Male (JM)

Art: Grades 3-4
1st - “Brushes” by Amelia Ellis
2nd - “Mimosa Tree” by Elizabeth A. Hayes
3rd - “Todos Los Colores” by Alice Northerns
HM - “The Mysteries of Outer Space”
by Rajvardhan Yerraguntla
HM - “A Walk at the Park” by Elizabeth A. Hayes
HM - “Unknown” by Alice Northerns
HM - “Scratch Into Steel” by Taksh Pidara

Art: Grades 5-6
1st - “World Flowers” by Madelyn Schroeder
2nd - “Giraffe Sketch” by Cassidy Simons
3rd - “A Farmer’s Day” by Tabitha Metcalf
HM - “Summer Bouquet” by Claire Denton
HM - “Santa Cow” by Cassidy Simons
HM - “Eiffel Tower” by Tabitha Metcalf
HM - “Raising ‘Em Right” by Corbin Barney
HM - “Theseus and the Labyrinth” by Ezra Northerns

Art: Grades 7-8
1st - “Free to Improvise” by Cassie Northerns
2nd - “Angela” by Cassie Northerns
3rd - “The Cutest Rabbit of All Mankind”
by Eleanora Agard
HM - “Robin in a Tree” by Eleanora Agard

Art: Grades 9-12
1st - “Angel” by Abigail Cox
2nd - “Winding Stream” by Adain Smith
3rd - “Sunflower Farm” by Madeline Male (JM)
HM - “Cherries” by Adain Smith
HM - “I shall call him Herbert” by Jonathan Agard

Bajaj Youth Writer of the Year: Cassie Northerns

Order Copies of the 2025 Youth Contest Book

Thank You to our 2025 Youth Contest Judges

9/20/2025

Fiction Grades 3-4 & 7-8

Samantha Barrett is the author of the speculative short story collection, The Bus to Adventure City, and is the writer of The Dissociation Gazette on Substack. Her fiction has appeared in 10/ten, Cities of Dust Planes of Light, Polis, NeverWas Earth, and elsewhere. She occasionally writes poetry, and was a semi-finalist in Lefty Blondie Press’s Editors’ Choice Broadside series, in addition to placing in the Kansas Authors Club’s Annual Writing Contest (Poetry: New Voices). Sam runs youth writing workshops in the Wichita area. She is originally from Pittsburgh, PA.

Fiction Grades 5-6

Jolene Haas grew up in Southeast Kansas listening to the many stories of her extended family members. Some stories were true, but most were creatively told with twists and turns in the events, depending on who was telling the story. As a young girl, she began writing her own stories. She loves to read and write middle grade and young adult fiction. Jolene has taught students in Pre-K through eighth grade for thirty years. She is a member of Kansas Authors Club and Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Fiction Grades 9-12

Cynthia Mines
An award-winning author of three nonfiction books and hundreds of journalism articles, Cynthia Mines’ debut novel will be published by Meadowlark Press in 2026. Her fiction has been published in Mikrokosmos and won first place for historical fiction from Pikes Peak Writers. She is the author of For the Sake of Art: A Kansas Renaissance, a Kansas Notable Book for 2015 and the basis of a 2025 “Cottonwood Connections” documentary on Smoky Hills PBS.

The current publisher/editor of Travel Kansas magazine, her professional career started as alumni-magazine editor at Wichita State University, where she earned a master’s degree in English. She won a national award for column writing while at the Wichita Business Journal, and her freelance travel articles have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Kansas City Star, and many other publications. She lives near Lindsborg with her husband and dog.

Nonfiction Grades 3-4 & 7-8

Ashley Donegan lives in her childhood home in small-town Kansas, where she’s sur-rounded by the love of family and the joy of farm life. Her days are filled with the company of animals that aren’t just pets, they’re cherished companions and the heart of the whimsical stories she writes. Ashley’s gentle spirit and deep connection to nature shine through in her work, creating stories that feel like a warm hug for young readers.

Her creative journey is a true family affair. Ashley teams up with her daughter, Macie, whose imagination and artistic talent bring their stories to life. Together, they share a love for storytelling and art and have many more ideas waiting to bloom into future children’s books.

Ashley has self-published two titles, including their latest adventure, Pirate Chickens Under Attackkkkk!!!, co-written and illustrated by 10-year-old Macie. The book is a finalist in the Kansas Author Club book awards, has been featured on KidLitTV, and will be showcased at the prestigious Frankfurter Buchmesse book fair in Germany this October.

Nonfiction Grades 5-6

Connlyn Sinclair’s first published piece was a pastiche of Ovid in his high school’s literary magazine. He has gone on to write a number of short story collections and novellas based upon his love of pulp adventure stories and fairytales. He is currently working on both his teaching certificate and a retelling of Aesop.

Note from Connlyn: There have been many good submissions to the grade 5-6 essay contest this year. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of them and appreciate the care the contestants took in their writing. I totally think everyone who entered has a future as a writer if they keep it up.

Nonfiction Grades 9-12

Dr. Rickye Heffner is Professor Emeritus of Neuro-science. She spent 50 years studying the evolution of hearing in mammals and birds. In addition to courses in introductory psychology and graduate neuroscience, she taught scientific communication.

Poetry Grades 3-4

Beth Gulley has published three chapbooks and four full-length collections of poetry. Her most recent books include Picking Fights in Book Club (Bottlecap Editions) and Frog Joy (Anamcara) and The Secret Life of Bubble Wrap (Alien Buddha). Some of her writing is included in The Gasconade Review, The Best of Alien Buddha, Tiny Spoon, Thorny Locust, and The Write Bridge. She teaches English at Johnson County Community College. Beth serves on the Riverfront Reading Committee and the Writers Place board. Most people recognize her from her coffee addiction and messy hair. She currently resides in Spring Hill, Kansas, which gives her easy access to Hillsdale Lake where she enjoys trail running and open water swimming. More information can be found on her blog at https://timeeasesallthings.wordpress.com/.

Note from Beth: The poets who submitted in the 3-4 grade contest made delightful use of imagery to transport the reader to places and seasons from the poets’ memories. I enjoyed the variety of forms amongst the submissions including haiku and acrostics. The poems also relied on end rhyme and internal rhyme to create music for the reader. It is encouraging to see so many emerging poets. I hope they all continue to write.

Poetry Grades 5-6

Linzi Garcia lives in Emporia, where she serves as the publicist and poetry editor for Meadowlark Press and as a board member for House of Morrow. While earning her MA in creative writing from Emporia State University, she worked as the graduate assistant to Poet Laureate Emeritus of Kansas Kevin Rabas and as an editorial assistant with Bluestem Press and Flint Hills Review. During that time, she also worked as a composition professor at the university, a reporter for The Emporia Gazette, and a bartender at Mulready's Pub, where she still works. Linzi is the author of Thank You and Cravings, and the co-author of Live a Great Story and While Away: Travel Poems. Linzi is a recipient of a 2023 NextGen Under 30 Kansas Award.

Poetry Grades 5-6

Linda Heggestad Wilson has written two volumes of poetry, Cloud & Wind and Blooms & Glory. She loves poetry for the way it lingers at the intersection of visual art, music, and writing, and is able to touch the heart and express things that nothing else can. This year she was honored to co-judge this category with her daughter, Amy. She loves to see the young people’s poetry and urges them to please keep writing.

Amy Beth Wilson was KAC's Bajaj Award Youth Writer of the Year in 2020 when she was in the 7th Grade, the same group she's now judging. She has since gone on to win other awards and to continue her writing, including a column in her hometown newspaper, Yours, Amy. She's so excited to see what the upcoming writers are doing and to see the legacy continue.

Poetry Grades 9-12

Al Ortolani is the Manuscript Editor for Woodley Press in Topeka, Kansas, and has directed a memoir writing project for Vietnam veterans across Kansas in association with the Library of Congress and Humanities Kansas. He is a 2019 recipient of the Rattle Chapbook Series Award. He has been a Kansas Notable Book recipient in 2017 and 2021. His poetry has appeared in Ted Kooser’s American Life in Poetry and in Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Alma-nac. After forty-three years of teaching English in public schools, he currently lives a life without bells and fire drills in the Kansas City area with his wife Sherri and their rescue dog Stanley.

We Have Writing Contests for All Ages

3/31/2025

Our contest for young writers, grades 3-12, includes categories in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and—new in 2025—visual art. There are no fees for youth entries. The awards ceremony for young writers will take place this year at the Kansas Book Festival in Topeka on September 20, 2025.

Youth Writing Contest Guidelines

Adult Writing Contest Guidelines

2023 Youth Contest Results

9/22/2023

The annual Youth Contest Awards were presented for the first time this year at the Kansas Book Festival in Topeka on September 16. This is the largest turnout of youth and their families that we have had. Many thanks to Tim Bascom and the Kansas Book Festival committee for collaborating with us to celebrate our young writers.

Thanks also to POD Print in Wichita for providing the books of winner entries!

Here are the 2023 results.

Fiction: Grades 3-4
1st – Isabella Johnson, “The Great Goal”
2nd – Fawaz Khan, “Oregon Trail”
3rd – Sawyer Slaughter, “My Friend Bob”

Fiction: Grades 5-6
1st – Ellis K. Lewis, “A New World”
2nd – Matthew Wen (D2 Member), “Bob’s Ordinary Day”
3rd – Avery Cao, “Leader”
HM – Meredith Facer, “The Diary of Linda Clockenhour”
HM – Avery Cao, “44th Annual Hunger Games”
HM – Sophia Yu, “Darkness”

Fiction: Grades 7-8
1st – Christina Dinh, “Her Shades of Blue”
2nd – Madeline Male (D2 Member), “Chapter One: Meeting My Clone Twin”
3rd – Madeline Male (D2 Member), “The Picture”
HM – Addison Buck, “The Dream of Freedom”
HM – Maanya Mohan, “The Genius”

Fiction: Grades 9-12
1st – Garrett Li (D2 Member), “Emerald Ocean”
2nd – Arielle Li (D2 Member), “Realization”
3rd – Brennen Constable, “It Snowed Today!”
HM – Alison Helsel, “Am I Dreaming?”

Non-Fiction: Grades 3-4
1st – Ivy Sun, “First Day at Worlds of Fun”
2nd – Isaac Casper, “Plants”
3rd – Vikram Kapoor, “Ninjas of the Night”

Non-Fiction: Grades 5-6
1st – Avery Cao, “The Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf”
2nd – Madison Forge, “Living in Council Grove”
3rd – Abigail Kerschen, “Tamika’s Game”
HM – Sophia Yu, “Lead and Water”
HM – Eli Sun, “Artificial Intelligence Argumentative Paper”
HM – Avery Cao, “Travis Kelce”

Non-Fiction: Grades 7-8
1st – Maanya Mohan, “Writing”
2nd – Madeline Male (D2 Member), “Preserve the Unique Prairie Ecosystem”
3rd – Grace Olejnik, “Is it All Worth it for a Cheap Pair of Jeans?”
HM – Adain Smith, “The Impact of Langston Hughes”
HM – Madeline Male (D2 Member), “Appreciating Backyard Birds”

Non-Fiction: Grades 9-12
1st – Arielle Li (D2 Member), “A Second Home”
2nd – Amy Beth Wilson (D5 Member), “Outrunning a Storm”
3rd – Garrett Li (D2 Member), “Qatar’s Controversial World Cup”
HM – Susannah Wilson (D5 Member), “Romance”

Poetry: Grades 3-4
1st – Camilla Daraiseh, “Lions”
2nd – Avyukta Bhavnani, “Art”
3rd – Ivy Sun, “What Would Happen”
HM – Journey Conyers, “Girl Scouts”
HM – Avyukta Bhavnani, “Magic”

Poetry: Grades 5-6
1st – Caroline Ebberts, “Summer Rain”
2nd – Natalie Antonios, “Alone”
3rd – Roarke Harper, “The Silent Lake”
HM – Claire Deleon, “A Mirror”
HM – Srihan Gorantla, “Hope’s Comeback”

Poetry: Grades 7-8
1st – Emrie Gossett, “The Cycle”
2nd – Madeline Male (D2 Member), “My Pets”
3rd – Madeline Male (D2 Member), “Lightning”
HM – Adain Smith, “The Highway”
HM – Maanya Mohan, “Cycles”
HM – Adain Smith, “The Calm Before the Storm”

Poetry: Grades 9-12
1st – Brennen Constable, “The Carefree Poet’s Eulogy”
2nd – Jonathan Agard, “Where the Stars Reside”
3rd – Madison Schaecher, “The Sun”
HM – Garrett Li (D2 Member), “America’s Pastime”
HM – Maggie Hahn, “The Mouse and the Guinea Pig”
HM – Molly James (D2 Member), “Summer is Here”

Bajaj Youth Writer of the Year: Madeline Male

Emilie Moll, a junior member from Emporia, took on the job of Youth Contest Manager this year. Emilie did a fantastic job producing our book and contest certificates.

Thank you to POD Print for sponsoring our Youth Contest. POD gifted a copy of the youth awards book to each child who placed in the contest.

Click Here to Meet our Youth Contest Judges

Kansas Book Festival - Saturday, September 16, 2023

9/6/2023

Kansas Authors Club and many of our members will be at the Kansas Book Festival on Saturday, September 16. We would love to see you there! Join us for a day of literary festivities, including the Kansas Authors Club Youth Contest Awards Ceremony, which will take place at 2:00pm in the Mabee Library Lounge. We are excited to celebrate our young writers in Topeka this year!

Members presenting at the festival this year include Janice Northerns, K.L. Barron, Jenn Bailey, Barbara Waterman-Peters, Julie A. Sellers, Traci Brimhall, Maryfrances Wagner, Maureen Carroll, Brian Daldorph, Marcia Cebulska, and many, many more!

Join us!

All youth award winners will receive a copy of the 2023 awards book, courtesy of POD Print, Wichita. The book includes 1st, 2nd, 3rd place, and honorable mention entries.

POD Print

2020 Youth Contest Award Book

8/20/2020

Thanks to Mennonite Press
of Newton, Kansas, for sponsoring the printing of the
2020 Youth Contest Book.

Deadline for reserving copies: September 1, 2020

Because we will not have an in-person award ceremony for the youth this year, we are contemplating all of the many ways we can make this year memorable and special for the kids who have participated. Mennonite Press has once again generously offered to print books of the winning entries to be gifted to each student who places in the contest.

In past years, we have had additional books available for friends and family. Donations for these books go to help support future youth contests. This year, we will be requesting donations in advance so that we know how many books we need to print and ship.

Deadline for reserving Youth Books:
September 1, 2020

Reserve & pay now at the KAC online shop.

You may also request a youth book with your convention registration payment.)

Youth books will be shipped in October, after the convention.