The poet William Carlos Williams wrote that "all our efforts as writers and as men must be to release the chained dragon within us." The release of middle school writers' creative dragons was celebrated on Tuesday, April 4, with the culmination of the 9^th annual Baltimore County Middle School Writing Contest (MSWC), at an awards ceremony hosted and sponsored by Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Pikesville. Flowers were provided by Radebaugh's Florists.

Contest showcases middle school students' best writing.

From more than 350 entries from 12 county middle schools, 15 finalists were selected, six in the poetry category, six in non-fiction, and three in fiction. At the ceremony, winners and honorable mentions were announced. Excerpts from the winners' writing were honored with a reading.

To name a few, fiction winner Brianne C.'s "Torture House" terrified: "The lights flickered and the floors creaked, the faucet squeaked, and the sink leaked, an environment perfect for dreadful things to happen in." Poetry winner Ethan S.'s "I'm a poet and I don't even know it" amused: "I write stuff because I feel it./ Like, if I had a banana I would peel it." And non-fiction winner Kelsey K.'s satire "Girls to Models" scathed: "Everyone knows that being perfectly beautiful will make everything else in your life perfect also."

Created nine years ago by the Literary Arts magnet senior class at Carver Center for the Arts and Technology, the MSWC remains student run and judged, with the guidance of advisor Bonny Boto, Literary Arts department chair.

Running the contest gave Literary Arts seniors, who have studied creative writing intensively throughout high school, a chance to return to the years when many of them first focused on writing.

"It was fun to see what middle school students had come up with because it reminded me what I was like in middle school, which was when I started to want to become a writer," says senior Samantha S., who hopes to pursue journalism after high school.

Many of the seniors entered the contest when they were in middle school, and some of the middle school students will follow in their footsteps by attending Carver, or pursuing writing in general.

For guest speaker Elaine Berry, Baltimore County English department coordinator, the awards ceremony "reminded me about the joy of writing and reading" in the midst of growing emphasis on testing. After all,

"so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens."

~William Carlos Williams

Story by Tracy G., senior at Carver Center for Arts and Technology. Photos by Sally K. Gold, member of the Carver Center Foundation Board (and Tracy's mother).