Letters About Literature 2009/2010

Nine students, in grades 4-12, emerge as state winners in the Letters About Literature reading and writing promotion contest which encourages students to read, reflect, connect, and write. The contest is a program of Humanities Tennessee, in affiliation with the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, and Target.

The contest asks students in 4th-12th grades to select a fiction or nonfiction book, a short story, poem, essay, or speech they have read and to which they reacted strongly or have strong feelings about. The students write a letter to that author (living or dead) about their reaction. A first round of judges at each level selected letters to advance to state round judging. A panel of nine judges, all literary professionals from across Tennessee, scored the top letters from round one to select the state winners.

The results for Tennessee's 2010 Letters About Literature winners are in! This year we received 1,721 letter entries from students from all parts of the state written to a diverse group of authors. Congratulations to the winners!

Tennessee's State winners are:

Level I (4th-6th grade)

  • 1st place: Katherine V. Fulcher for her letter to Mitch Albom about Tuesdays with Morrie. Katherine is in 5th grade at Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge.
  • 2nd place: Brayden Kee for his letter to Jack London about White Fang. Brayden is a 5th grader at Stuart-Burns Elementary in Burns.
  • 3rd place: Ashlyn Anderson for her to Brian Selznick about The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Ashlyn is in 4th grade at Poplar Grove School in Franklin.

Level II (7th-8th grade)

  • 1st place: Siori Koerner for her letter to J.D. Salinger about Catcher in the Rye. Siori is in 8th grade at Christiana Middle School in Christiana.
  • 2nd place: Emily Blount for her letter to Anthony Kiedis and Larry Sloman about Scar Tissue. Emily is in 8th grade at St. Andrew's-Sewanee school in Sewanee.
  • 3rd place: Will Thomas for his letter to Maurice Sendak about Where the Wild Things Are. Will is in 8th grade at St. Andrew's-Sewanee school in Sewanee.

Level III (9th -12th grade)

  • 1st place: Malli Swamy for her letter to Paolo Coelho about The Alchemist. Malli is in 11th grade at White Station High School in Memphis.
  • 2nd place: Megan Lee for her letter to Sherman Alexie about The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Megan is in 9th grade at White Station High School in Memphis.
  • 3rd place: Paul Hoover for his letter to Thornton Wilder about Our Town. Paul is in 11th grade at Germantown High School in Germantown.

This is the 6th year in a row that a White Station High School student has won a state prize for the Letters About Literature contest.

Each first place winner will receive a $100 cash award from Humanities Tennessee in addition to a $50 gift card from Target and a $50 gift card from Dollar General, and a certificate honoring the achievement. Each first place winner's letter advances to compete in the national Letters About Literature contest. Additionally, the first place winner from Level 3 wins a full tuition scholarship to attend the Tennessee Young Writers' Workshop this summer, courtesy of Humanities Tennessee.

Each second place winner will receive a $50 cash award from Humanities Tennessee and a certificate honoring their achievement. Each third place winner will receive a $25 cash award from Humanities Tennessee and a certificate honoring their achievement.

You can read the full winning letters here.

2009-2010 LAL State Judges

Several writers, teachers, librarians, and scholars volunteered their time to help read and narrow down all of the entries to state finalists and honorable mentions. These letters will go on to state judges who will select three winners at each of the three different levels.

Level 1 State Judges (grades 4-6)
  • Helen Houston, Professor, African-American Literature, Tennessee State University, Nashville
  • Shellie Braeuner, children's author, Nashville
  • Amy Dietrich, Retired Associate Professor of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership, University of Memphis, Jackson
Level 2 State Judges (grades 7-8)
  • Lorraine M. López, author and Associate Professor, MFA Program, Vanderbilt University, Nashville
  • John Carter Cash, Children's author and music producer, Hendersonville
Level 3 State Judges (grades 9-12)
  • Jinx Watson, Retired Professor and co-founder of the Center for Children's and Young Adult Literature, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  • Karen Bowyer, President, Dyersburg State Community College, Dyersburg
  • Ronald Kidd, Young adult and children's author, Nashville

The Center for the Book was established in 1977 as a public-private partnership to use the resources of the Library of Congress to stimulate public interest in books and reading.

Target sponsors Letters About Literature as part of its national reading initiative, "Ready. Sit. Read!" which is aimed at fostering a love of reading among children at an early age. Since opening its first store in 1962, Target has partnered with nonprofit organizations, guests and team members to help meet community needs.

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