THE DOG WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA BY LEA-ANN O’HARE GERMINDER, APR FELLOW PRSA Germinder + Associates, Inc.
(NEW YORK, N.Y. – DECEM- BER 12, 2018) T he Dog Writers Associa- tion of America (DWAA) is pleased to announce the four winners of the DWAA Writ- ing Competition’s Junior Writer Award. The winners are as follows:
Wednesday, December 5. Those win- ners will be announced at the banquet itself. The event will feature keynote addresses from NBC correspondent and host of Animal Planet’s “Dog Bowl” Jill Rappaport and radio host/journalist/ author Steve Dale of Steve Dale’s Pet World. Tickets are available now by registering here. The DWAA Junior Writer Award is sponsored annually by Karen Petit, an author of children’s books, for writers under the age of 18. The purpose of the award is to recognize and encour- age young writers who exhibit talent, resourcefulness, dedication and integ- rity in their writing about dogs and dog- related topics. Winners receive $400, a DWAA Maxwell Medallion (named for renowned dog writer Maxwell Riddle) and lapel pin. Normally there is just one winner, but the contest coincided with the inau- gural year of DWAA’s Young Writers on the Web, a program that offers mentor- ship and publication to writers under 18. The contest experienced such a surge in entries from children and teens
that an anonymous donor stepped for- ward to offer matching grants in four age categories. All four winning entries were originally published by DWAA as part of Young Writers on the Web. “It’s so inspiring to see such tal- ent for writing and love of dogs in the next generation,” said Jen Reeder, DWAA President. “I hope these awards help motivate these four remarkable young people—and their peers—to keep writing!” In “Atlas,” 9-year-old Nikolas Antho- ny Klimenko touchingly describes the endearing qualities of his late Bernese Mountain Dog, Atlas. One memorable line reads, “His joy, happiness, and love were as contagious as pink eye.” It’s a moving tribute to a beloved dog. ( https://dogwriters.org/junior/atlas/ ) “A Passion for Helping Pooches” by 12-year-old Jayson Kimberly is a first- hand account of the boy’s efforts to raise money and supplies for shelter dogs through two programs he creat- ed: Leave It For the Pooch and Pennies Four Paws. “When I first saw Booker in a Facebook post, he was in bad shape,”
Atlas by Nikolas Anthony Klimenko, 9 (Category: 7-9)
A Passion for Helping Pooches by Jayson Kimberly, 12 (Category: 10-12)
Full Circle by Daly Dodsworth, 13 (Category: 13-14)
What I’ve Learned from Smudge, Lola, and Dewey by Kendle Rae Frank, 16 (Category: 15-17) The winners can accept their prizes on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019 at the DWAA Awards Banquet at the Hotel New Yorker in Manhattan. The final- ists in the regular DWAA and special award categories were announced
146 • S how S ight M agazine , J anuary 2019
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