Actors Bill Jones and Christine Kludjian Read PPLA Summer Creative Writing Contest 2024 Winning Stories
By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief
The results are in: The winners of the Friends of the Palisades Library Summer Creative Writing Contest 2024 were revealed during a performance on Wednesday, October 9.
The contest—which ran throughout summer before concluding in September—was open to students in first through 12th grade.
Attendees snacked on light refreshments provided by Friends of the Palisades Library, also known as Pacific Palisades Library Association, while winning tales with the theme “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to…” were read, once again, by actors Bill Jones and Christine Kludjian.
PPLA Vice-President, Communications, Kathy Slattery welcomed everyone who attended in the community room at Palisades Branch Library, noting that each year, she appreciates all of the student writers who take the time to enter the contest. She also thanked the judges and librarians for their help coordinating.
Rena Repetti, PPLA vice-president, membership, extended an invitation to the community to join the Friends of the Palisades Library for as little as $25 per year. She explained that the library functions as a “hub” for the community, that with all of its programming and spaces, it is a “vibrant place.”
Before beginning to read the winning tales from the five age categories, Kludjian noted that she was “happy to be here,” joking with Jones that they had been doing this for “42 years,” before explaining that they really have been doing it for 10-plus years.
“It’s really and truly a pleasure to be here,” Kludjian said.
The program began with the winners in the Scribblers group (grades one and two): Third place went to Roman McNitt for “The Missing Fruit Guy,” second place to Jack Kervin for “Taco Night Terror” and first place to Mark James “MJ” Brown for “The Hunt for the Diamond.”
While receiving their prizes, Jack Kervin noted that the characters in his piece—TJ, Cain, Dennis and Mateo—shared names with his real-life friends.
Next up was Jotters (grades three and four) with Clara Bowles for “A funny thing happened on the way to ice cream with my friends” in third place, Emma Kerdiles for “A Dream” in second place and Phoebe Hanelin for “Something Funny Happened on the Way to the Zoo” in first place.
Grades five and six—the Scrawlers category—had Ella Kervin in second place for “Escape From Ziatonia” and Scarlett Taylor with “A Voice of Encouragement” in first place.
Hudson Marks received third place for “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Mountain” in the Scribes category (grades seven and eight), with Sydney Lee for “A Lucky Find” in second place and Rohan Mukhopadhyay in first place for “The Bank Heist.”
The high school category (Authors) had James Marks in third place for “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way To Tuesday,” Audrey Yael Smith in second place for “Checkmate” and James Corman in first place for “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Ground,” which was the final story read during the program.
All participants received a gift certificate for a scoop from McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams, while winning authors received certificates to DIESEL, A Bookstore, with first place taking home $100, second place $75 and third place $50 in each category.
A raffle was conducted with one family receiving tickets and popcorn for four at Bay Theater.
“Don’t stop writing,” Kludjian said at the end of the event, while Jones suggested more space stories: “We never get enough of those.”
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