MISSOULA, Mont. – Outdoor Writers Association of America awarded 12 Norm Strung Youth Writing Award prizes totaling $1,700.

The annual contest, sponsored by the Safari Club International Foundation, has categories for poetry and prose in two divisions: junior (grades 6-8) and senior (grades 9-12) and the piece must be outdoor-oriented. First-place winners in all categories received $250, second-place winners received $125 and third-place winners received $50. This year's winners are:

Junior Poetry

First place: "Cycle," by Nathan James Phuong; Fort Wayne, Indiana
Second place: "How to be a hawk," by Griffin Bannon; Brunswick, Maine (Center for Teaching and Learning)
Third place: "Ode to a conch shell," by Sydney Sullivan; Portland, Maine (Acorns, Center for Teaching and Learning)
Senior Poetry

First place: "Fish Catching," by Michelle Chen; Whitestone, New York
Second place: "Dear Mother," by Deanna Altomara; Mahwah, New Jersey
Third place: "Untitled," by William V. Hartley; Tuckerson, New Jersey
Junior Prose

First place: "It was big enough," by Reese Blakeney; Leesville, Louisiana (Louisiana Outdoor Writers Association Newsletter)
Second place: "Young lady Sherlock Holmes cracks the case," by Rylee Gjesvold; Ham Lake, Minnesota (Minnesota Outdoor News)
Third place: "Bringing home the bacon," by Ramsay Smith; Paw Paw, Michigan (Michigan Outdoor News)
Senior Prose

First place: "Those treasured weeks of November," by Brooke Cote; Cook, Minnesota (Minnesota Outdoor News)
Second place: "The delicate arc of a falling pheasant," by Elizabeth Rubbelke; Rogers, Minnesota (Minnesota Outdoor News)
Third place: "The magic of the salt marsh," by Ryan Chelius; Rockville Centre, New York (New York Outdoor News)

Winning entries from this year's contest will be printed in the December/January issue of Outdoors Unlimited, OWAA's magazine.

The deadline for next year's entries is March 15, 2016. For complete contest rules and more information, visithttp://owaa.org/programs/contests/norm-strung-youth-writing-awards.

The Norm Strung Youth Writing Contest was named after Norm Strung, who served as OWAA president in 1984-1985. Now deceased, Strung received OWAA's Excellence in Craft award in 1989. In 1988, Strung was the Ham Brown recipient for service to OWAA. That same year, he organized and edited a book for OWAA titled "Selling the Outdoor Story." He was also recognized as the Outstanding Board member in 1975.

OWAA is The Voice of the Outdoors®. The Outdoor Writers Association of America® is the oldest and largest association of professional outdoor communicators in the United States. It was organized in 1927 by members of the Izaak Walton League of America and includes professional communicators dedicated to sharing the outdoor experience. OWAA's professionals include writers, photographers, outdoors radio- and television-show hosts, book authors, videographers, lecturers and artists. The association is headquartered in Missoula, Montana. For more information, contact Outdoor Writers Association of America, 615 Oak St., Ste. 201, Missoula, Montana. 59801; 406-728-7434, info@owaa.org; www.owaa.org.

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