Cathy Gourley, coordinator of one of the Center for the Book's most popular and enduring national reading promotion projects, has announced the deadline for "Letters About Literature 2001": Dec. 1, 2000.
Illinois Center for the Book President Alice Calabrese and Illinois Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White congratulate state winners Willem Van Lancker, Daniel McCune, Anne Wootton, JoAnna Novak and Ericka Wills.
"The project is based on a simple but important premise, that students who read, write better, and that students who write, read more," said Ms. Gourley. "This national essay contest makes the Center for the Book's motto and logo, "Books Give Us Wings,' come alive for students across the nation."
More than 20,000 students entered the 1999-2000 contest and 28 affiliated state centers participated by selecting and honoring their state's winners. Sponsored in association with the Weekly Reader Corp., "Letters About Literature" invites students to write a letter to an author—living or dead—explaining how the author's book "gave them wings" by changing his or her way of thinking. The contest has two competition levels: Level I for students in grades 4-7; Level II for students in grades 8-12. Judges select a national winner for each level. The cash award is $500. In addition, participating state center for the book affiliates will present $100 cash awards for both competition levels to the top essayists in their states. State centers also sponsor the state awards ceremony. The funding for the awards comes from private donations to the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.
Dannah Shuval receives a Level II first prize from Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury.
With more than 800 students entering the contest, Colorado was one of the most active "Letters About Literature" states in 1999-2000. The winners were announced by the Colorado Center for the Book on April 13, 2000, in an awards ceremony in the governor's mansion in Denver. The Colorado judges were Norma Livo, Shannon Jacobs and John Stansfield. Ms. Livo is a retired education professor, a prolific author and a storyteller. Shannon Jacobs is the author of many children's books. Mr. Stansfield, a storyteller and author, is the founder of the Rocky Mountain Story-telling Festival.
"We are bursting with pride at the talent of our young writers," said Chris Citron, director of the Colorado Center for the Book. "It is stunning how many of these children had to grapple with a personal tragedy, yet found solace in books. A number of the essays dealt with the events at Columbine High School. In a year when we experienced incomprehensible tragedy, these letters give us hope. They show us the inspiring talent of our youth and underscore the importance of reading in our lives, the wonder of books."
The Colorado Center for the Book reproduced the 17 winning essays from its "Letters About Literature" contest in an 18-page booklet, Readers-Leaders of the 21st Century. The publication includes three poems by Colorado children that were selected as finalists in the Center for the Book's 1999 "River of Words" environmental poetry and art contest.
Colorado's Level I winners included Clint Cote, Amanda Kafer, Lucy Bryan, Nicole Voss, Brittany Keeler, Brad Shepard and Cody Rushing. Colorado Center for the Book Executive Director Christiane Citron stands with the winners.
"Letters About Literature" was launched in its present format and with its present name in 1993. From 1984 until 1993, the contest was called "Books Change Lives" and was sponsored by the Center for the Book in partnership with Weekly Reader Corp.'s Read magazine. In 1995 Conari Press in San Francisco published a collection of 75 of the letters, titled Dear Author: Students Write About the Books That Changed Their Lives, with an introduction by noted children's book author Lois Lowry.
For guidelines and an entry form for Letters About Literature 2001, a list of first place winners for 2000 honored by participating state center affiliates, and "writing samples and other helpful hints," visit the Center for the Book's Web site at www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook.
