This fall, over 110,000 teens across the United States and Canada entered more than 310,000 works of writing and art to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. We’re proud to announce that several Letterly students are among the recipients of regional awards and recognitions!
Please join us in celebrating the incredible dedication of these young writers!
🥇🥇🥈🥈⭐️ Katherine Wu: 2 Gold Keys, 2 Silver Keys, 1 Honorable Mention
🥇 🏆 Nelson Shi: Gold Key and American Voices Nominee for “After,” Short Story
🥇🥇🥇🥇🥈⭐️ Nina He: Gold Keys for “The Consesian Chronicles,” Novel, “Too Little, Too Late,” Flash Fiction, “The Company,” Speculative Fiction, “dyed hair & untold stories, Flash Fiction; Silver Key for “From Sandalwood to Chlorine,” Personal Essay; Honorable Mention for “The Empty Chair,” Short Story
🥈Ivy Tao: Silver Key for “Shattered Illusions,” Flash Fiction
🥈Joshua Meng: Silver Key for “Stormforged,” Speculative Fiction
🥈Olivia Liu: Silver Key for “Daffodils,” Short Story
🥈Patricia Xu: Silver Key for “Is AI Threatening Education?,” Critical Essay
🥈Tiffany Han: Silver Key for “Zoovalret,” Poetry
🥈Youheng Zhong: Silver Key for “I Still Love You,” Short Story
⭐️ Allison Zhou: Honorable Mention for “The House of the Living and the Dead,” Speculative Fiction
⭐️ Arthur Liao: Honorable Mentions for “Swept Away: The Untold Story of Climate Refugees,” Critical Essay, and “Through the Narrows,” Personal Essay
⭐️ Minqi Liu: Honorable Mention for Excerpt of “What Lies Behind the Curse,” Novel
⭐️ Rosalyn Xu: Honorable Mention for “He Almost Got Away with Murder: How Pamela Butler and Marta Rodriguez Finally Got The Justice They Deserved,” Journalism
⭐️ Serena Zhang: Honorable Mention for “The Last Summer,” Screenplay
Stay tuned for additional updates regarding National Scholastic Awards in late March 2026!
In the meantime, we’re looking forward to other upcoming opportunities for students to showcase their writing, including the Journal Summer Bootcamp! Here’s a reminder of the beautiful writing students composed last year…
Winners of the Summer 2025 Letterly National Writing Competition!
In the “Over 13” category…
🥇 1st Place: Youheng Zhong for “The Barren Spot”
🥈 2nd Place: Ryan Peng for “Ants”
🥉 3rd Place: Eric Gu for “Airplanes: Soaring the Skies”
⭐️ Honorable Mention: Amanda Zhang for “If I Could Talk to My Little Self”
⭐️ Honorable Mention: Cooper Lee for “4th of July”
In the “12 and Under” category…
🥇 1st Place: Zachary Fan for “The Day the Refrigerator Quit”
🥈 2nd Place: Elena Chen for “Rain”
🥉 3rd Place: Jessica Yu for “Forever Late”
⭐️ Honorable Mention: Jenny Liang for “The forest took her”
⭐️ Honorable Mention: Archer Xiang for “A New Super Power In the Ocean!”
⭐️ Honorable Mention: Melissa Zhao for “Beauty Through the Lines”
We thank all of our young writers and their families for showcasing their unique voices and spirits through their work! We can’t wait to see what you come up with in our upcoming programming.
Happy Writing!
💌 The Letterly Team