Teen ETCH

The Guelph Public Library, in partnership with Vocamus Writers Community, is thrilled to announce the results and achievements of 2025’s Teen ETCH Creative Writing Contest. This annual creative arts contest for teens in grades 7 through 12 provides opportunities for Guelph’s youth to express their thoughts and connect to their community through the power of storytelling. This year’s theme was ‘Reflections.’

The library appreciates the continued support of the Vocamus Writers Community and Kiwanis Club of Guelph. All teen finalists were mentored by a local author who helped them strengthen their writing skills.

A special thanks to this year’s dedicated mentors for generously volunteering your time and expertise: June Blair, Laura Cok, Jack Florek, Catherine Frid, Jean Gibbens, Joanne Guidoccio, Larry Harder, Jaya James, Marilyn Kleiber, Judith Nasby, Dara Nolan, James Nowak, Michael Ridley, Dave Rogers, Deb Stark, Peter Szabo, Marian Thorpe, Tom Vaine, Anne Walk, Judy Wearing, and Jeremy Luke Hill.

Enjoy reading ETCH 2025 Anthology by purchasing your own copy at the Main Library – second floor - for $10 each or 2 for $15 and keep on celebrating Guelph’s talented and creative youth!

Here are this year’s selected entries and winners:

Cover Art:
First Place: Jaime Mino

Poetry Category:
First Place: “Nebulae” by Noah Orine
Second Place: “Lookback’s Shadow” by Silvie Muller
Third Place: “Reflections in Silver Glass” by Nandini Parihar

Runners Up:
“Lifetime” by Elianna Wylie
“11:12” by Jasmine Kaur-Sahini

Short Story Category - Grades 7 to 8:
First Place: “Night of Mystery” by Isabel Swan
Second Place: “A Guide to Not Dying in the World of Mirrors” by August McQuigge
Third Place: “My Friend in the War” by Ishanvi Nair

Short Story Category - Grades 9 to 10:
First Place: “Ripples of Recognition” by Nandini Parihar
Second Place: “A Letter without an Address” by Dylan Hostein
Third Place: “The Girl I Used to Be” by Piper Caporicci

Runner Up:
“Me” by Olivia Wang

Short Story Category - Grades 11 to 12:
First Place: “Cecil Mead” by Lily Bitton
Second Place: “Frayed Edges” by Kaelin Caporicci
Third Place: “The Man in the Mirror” by Ril Gibson

Runners Up:
”Elliot” by Forest Mae
“The Mirror” by Hana Maherali-Caruso
“A Brief Visit” by Paisley Thomason

2024 Teen ETCH

Poetry

Third place is awarded to Charlie Anna Mary Ratcliffe for “Adoring an Artist
Second place is awarded to Elianna White for “Everything”
First place is awarded to Noah Orine for “The Wonderseeker”

Grades 7 to 8

Third place is awarded to Erich Lacsamana for “Women in Time”
Second place is awarded to SaniaZehra Abedi for “What the Eras Taught Me”
First place is awarded to Ishanvi Nair for “Queen of Thorns

Grades 9 to10

Third place is awarded to Forest Hillis for “Shoot the Arrow”
Second place is awarded to Melanie Kruis for “A Dangerous Adventure”
First Place is Divya Dasgupta “The End of an Era”

Grades 11 to 12

Third place is awarded to Scott White for “The Car”
Second place is awarded to Kaelin Caporicci for “Between the Lines”
First place is awarded to Lily Bitton for “Leaving”

2023 Teen ETCH

Borrow a copy of 2023 Teen ETCH!

Cover Art: Zola Senitt

Poetry

First Place: “Gunslinger” by Rory Phelan
Second Place: “Smiles” by Hiba Khan
Third Place: “Falcon of Fire” by Elianna Wylie

Grades 7 to 8:

First Place: “A Song of Souls” by Lauren Zheng
Second Place: “The Dawning” by Piper Caporicci
Third Place: “The Corruption of Progress” by Liam Ruddock

Grades 9 to 10:

First Place: “The Obituary” by Lily Bitton
Second Place: “Little Bunny” by Charlie Ratcliffe
Third Place: “Fire Damage” by Hana Alice Maherali-Caruso

Grades 11 to 12:

First Place: “My First Friend” by Athavi Nishaanthan
Second Place: “They Called Me Katrina” by Julia Pelitis
Third Place: “All the Glitters” by Gwynne Valentine Ross

2022 Teen ETCH

Borrow a copy of the 2022 Teen ETCH!

Cover Art: Sadie Henry

Grades 7 to 8 Winners

First Place: “The Book Carrier” by Alexis Jurchuk
Second Place: “Inoculation Challenge” by Piper Addison Caporicci
Third Place: “The Tale of Porcelain Throne” by Olivia Wang

Grades 9 to 10 Winners

First Place: “The Livestream” by Paisley Thomason
Second Place: “Emma and Lilah” by Lily Bitton
Third Place: “A Broken Promise” by Ailish O’Donnell

Grades 11 to 12 Winners

First Place: “Loved” by Athavi Nishaanthan
Second Place: “Statement” by Pearl Aalbers-Davey
Third Place: “I Spy” by Aisha Zubair

Honourable Mentions

“Sunlight in a Jar” by Hiba Khan
“The Desmariate Virus” by Eden Muller
“The Fallacy of Joy” by Mabel Taiwo
“Corona Virus Blues” by Hana Maherali-Caruso

2021 Teen ETCH

Cover Art: Clark Kurtz Favero

Grades 7 to 8 Winners

First Place: “Welcome to the Island” by Olivia Gyuran
Second Place: “Injected” by Kaelin Caporicci
Third Place: “Emerald Island” by Paisley Thomason

Grades 9 to 10 Winners

First Place: “Monster” by Athavi Nishaanthan

Second Place: “World in a Box of Matches” by Joseph Schuurman
Third Place:“Sunshine” by Sadie Pattison

Grades 11 to 12 Winners

First Place: “Windward” by Bea Aalbers-Davey
Second Place: “We are Many” by Aluki Chupik-Hall
Third Place: “Rules for the Road when Travelling Europe” by Darcy Tyrrell

Honourable Mentions

“The Chase” by Katelyn Heyboer
“Goodbye” by Leah Symons

2020 Teen ETCH