UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — “Feeling understood and seen in literature is a uniquely reassuring experience,” wrote Victoria Capitano, a senior at Great Valley High School in Malvern, in her winning essay, “Peering Through 'The Bell Jar,'” about Sylvia Plath’s novel “The Bell Jar.” Her essay was noted for its “use of descriptive language” and selected by state judges for first place in the 2022 Wordstruck Micro Essay contest.
Wordstruck: Micro Essays on Literature that Redefined You is an essay contest administered by the Pennsylvania (PA) Center for the Book for 10th to 12th grade Pennsylvanians that invites writers to describe how a self-selected piece of literature redefined their behavior, attitude, worldview and/or personal perspective.
As this year’s first-place winner, Capitano will be awarded $200.
Also recognized as “honorees of high distinction” are Aris Pastor, for her essay “Everything Passes” about the Japanese novel “No Longer Human” by Osamu Dazai, and Samantha Podnar, for her essay “I Can’t Go On. I’ll Go On.” about the memoir “When Breath Becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi. Pastor is a senior at North Allegheny Senior High School in Pittsburgh and Podnar is a recent North Allegheny graduate. Each will be awarded $150 for their essays of high distinction.
The Pennsylvania Center for the Book’s 2022 Wordstruck contest state judges included:
- Emily R. Aguilo-Perez, assistant professor of English - children's literature, West Chester University, West Chester, Pennsylvania.
- Carolyn Cook, associate professor of education and department chair, Mount St. Mary's University, Emmitsburg, Maryland, and a resident of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.
- Theresa M. Hoover, associate professor of education and assistant director of Graduate Education Programs, Wilson College, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
- Erica King, instructional designer, Pennsylvania Center for the Book - Penn State University Libraries, University Park, Pennsylvania.
The PA Center for the Book is an affiliate of the Center for the Book established in 1977 at the Library of Congress. It encourages Pennsylvania’s citizens and residents to study, honor, celebrate and promote books, reading, libraries and literacy.
In addition to administering Wordstruck, the Pennsylvania Center for the Book administers the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, the Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize, the Public Poetry Project, A Baker’s Dozen: The Best Children’s Books for Family Literacy, Poems from Life, Words of Art, the interactive Literary and Cultural Heritage Maps of Pennsylvania, and Curricula and Teaching Materials. The center’s public initiatives provide access to content that includes poetry posters, live and recorded presentations, lesson plans, reviews, and more.
For additional information about the Wordstruck contest, visit the Wordstruck: Micro Essays on Literature that Redefined You page of the Pennsylvania Center for the Book website, or contact Nicole Miyashiro, writer-in-residence, at nmm16@psu.edu.