The winners in the 21st annual Writers Competition at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library received recognition in a ceremony at the library Sunday, May 17.

One of the oldest competitions of its kind in the region, this year’s program attracted more than 175 entries from participants ranging in age from 6 to more than 80 years old. Entries are fiction and nonfiction prose of 2,000 words or less.

Entries are judged by professional writers, editors and educators and winners receive cash prizes funded by a grant from the Kiwanis Club of Coeur d’Alene and from the Friends of the Coeur d’Alene Public Library.

Prizes are $100 for first, $50 for second and $25 for third. In case of ties, duplicate prizes are awarded. First-place prizes are not necessarily awarded in every age group and category, depending on the scores awarded by the judges.

The 2009 winners and the titles of their entries are:

►  6-8 Fiction: First, Hannah Daniels, Hayden, “Manatee Rescue;” Second, Toriana Jean Wilson, Coeur d’Alene, “The Sad Dragon;” Third, Erin Chaves, Spokane, “Mushy Brown Banana.”

► 9-11 Fiction: First, Anika Suurkask, Coeur d’Alene, “Don’t Dare Me to Grow and Cantaloupe;” Second, Samantha Heck, Post Falls, “What Love Can Do;” Third (tie), Kayla Marie Thompson, Post Falls, “Friendship;” Third (tie), Magen P. Daniels, Hayden, “Saving a Seal.”

► 12-14 Fiction: First (tie), Emma Daugharty, Coeur d’Alene, “Party of One;” First (tie), Katrina Louise Belling, Spokane, “Painting Outside the Lines;” Second (tie), Casey Hastings, Coeur d’Alene, “The Bear Who Couldn’t Fish;” Second (tie), Megan Louise Sausser, Post Falls, “Bargaining Chip;” Third, Ian Van Ostrand, Post Falls, “Debarkation Day.”

► 15-18 Fiction: Second, James P. George, Coeur d’Alene, “Eire;” Third, Liz Patterson, Coeur d’Alene, “Excerpt from ‘The Eleventh Hour’.”

   ► 19-Plus Fiction: First (tie), Constance G. Jensen, Hayden, “A Growing Season;” First (tie), Randi Vaughn, Coeur d’Alene, “County Road No. 9;” Second, Tina L. Rodeen, Spokane, “Morning;” Third (tie), Randi Vaugh, Coeur d’Alene, “The Pillow Wrangler;” Third (tie), Dorothy Clark, Coeur d’Alene, “The Orange Handled Wrench;” Third (tie), Eleanor Engelbrecht, Hayden, “Mystery of Driftwood Shores.”

► 6-8 Nonfiction: First, Payton Barber, Hayden, “Payton and the Bee;” Second, Mallory Raquel Henkle, Athol, “My Adoption;” Third, Erin Olson, Hayden, “My Maple Tree.”

► 9-11 Nonfiction: First, Elisha Bennett Coad, Sagle, “Hanging Out at the Tree House;” Second, Jael Claybaugh, Post Falls, “Fly;” Third, Andrew Akins, Coeur d’Alene, “The Best Winter I Ever Spent in the South Pacific.”

► 12-14 Nonfiction: First (tie),    Josiah Coad, Sagle, “Richard Bennett (Off to War);” First (tie); Meaghan Bare, Coeur d’Alene, “1,131 Miles of Trail;” Second, Meaghan Bare, Coeur d’Alene, “Big Ears, Big Trunk, Big Body;” Third, Tessa Lauer, Harrison, “Snow White Today … Hollywood Tomorrow.”

► 15-18 Nonfiction: Second, Sean Douglas McLeod, Post Falls, “Skydiver,” Third, Sarah Munds, Hauser Lake, “Silence.”

► 19-Plus Nonfiction: First (tie), Christiana Bethany Hale, Post Falls, “The Fairy Flag of Dunvegan;” First (tie), Huntington, Spokane Valley, “The Barn;” Second, Debbie Cross, Hayden Lake, “Tides of Change;” Third, Brenda Groeschel, Coeur d’Alene, “Opened Heart.”

More news and information about the Coeur d’Alene Public Library is available online at www.cdalibrary.org. News about the library and other city departments is also available on the City of Coeur d’Alene news blog: http://cdacity.blogspot.com/.