Winners announced in annual essay contest

CONTACT
Communications Director
Minnesota Humanities Center
April 11, 2008

WINNERS ANNOUNCED IN ANNUAL ESSAY CONTEST

ST. PAUL, Minn. - April 11, 2008 - More than 1,300 fourth through 12th grade students from Minnesota - and 59,000 students nationwide - can attest to the power of literature. Just ask Eliza Edwards of Roseville, Anna Priore of Kenyon, and Rachel Finkbeiner of Elk River. They're the state-level winners of the national 2008 Letters About Literature contest, sponsored locally by the Minnesota Humanities Center.

In the form of letters to authors, these students explained how the author's work changed their perspective of the world or themselves: Mother Goose's nursery rhymes inspired Edwards' love of reading; A World War II story of survival strengthened the bond between Priore and her grandfather; and The Great Gatsby showed Finkbeiner the true meaning of wealth.

Edwards, Priore, and Finkbeiner will be honored by the Minnesota Humanities Center at the Minnesota Council of Teachers of English annual spring conference April 12, 2008. They will each receive a certificate from the Humanities Center, an autographed book by Minnesota author Will Weaver, and a Target GiftCard.

The contest is locally coordinated and sponsored by the Minnesota Humanities Center, with support from the St. Paul Pioneer Press and the Minnesota Council of Teachers of English, and is sponsored nationally by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and Target stores.

State-level winners and runners up are listed below, with links to their essays.

First Place
Level 1, Grades 4-6
Eliza Edwards, Sixth Grade Student, Parkview Center School, Roseville; hometown: St. Paul; for her letter to Mother Goose, author of My Very First Mother Goose (essay)

Level 2, Grades 7-8
Anna Priore, Eighth Grade Student, home school, Kenyon; for her letter to Clarence K. Larson, author of A Long March Home (essay)

Level 3, Grades 9-12
Rachel Finkbeiner, Tenth Grade Student, Elk River High School, Elk River; hometown: Ramsey; for her letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby (essay)

Second Place
Level 1, Grades 4-6
Lizzy Ehren, Sixth Grade Student, Mounds Park Academy, Maplewood; hometown: Woodbury; for her letter to Judy Blume, author of Are You There, God? It's Me Margaret (essay)

Level 2, Grades 7-8
Lisa Persson, Seventh Grade Student, Hopkins West Junior High School, Minnetonka; hometown: Minnetonka; for her letter to Elie Wiesel, author of Night (essay)

Level 3, Grades 9-12
Max Miller, Eleventh Grade Student, Perpich Center for Arts Education, Golden Valley; hometown: Minneapolis; for his letter to David Sedaris, author of Me Talk Pretty One Day (essay)

Third Place
Level 1, Grades 4-6
Ryan Corkrean, Sixth Grade Student, Mounds Park Academy, Maplewood; hometown: Woodbury; for his letter to Carl Hiaasen, author of Flush (essay)

Level 2, Grades 7-8
Birch Malotky, Eighth Grade Student, Minnetonka Middle School West, Exelsior; hometown: Excelsior; for her letter to Robert Frost, author of "The Road Not Taken" (essay)

Level 3, Grades 9-12
Megan Lewis, Twelfth Grade Student, Kasson-Mantorville High School, Kasson; hometown: Kasson; for her letter to Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (essay)

ABOUT THE MINNESOTA HUMANITIES CENTER
Through its emphasis on the humanities, the Minnesota Humanities Center works to build a thoughtful and society. A Minnesota-based national center and clearing house for the best in the humanities, the Humanities Center: conducts professional development opportunities; creates and disseminates one-of-a-kind educational resources; partners with other organizations to offer humanities programs statewide; and operates a full-service conference facility. For more information visit www.minnesotahumanities.org.

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