The Thornton Wilder Writing Competition was established by the Friends of the Hamden Library to honor long-time Hamden resident and Pulitzer Prize winning author and playwright, Thornton Wilder. The competition is open to all New Haven County public, private and parochial high school students. The entries for the competition may be any work of fiction: short stories, poetry, scripts, one-act plays or selections from longer works. Entries are limited to 2500 words, and only one prose and one poetry piece per student.

 Our 2022 Winners are:

1st Place in Poetry: "In the Infirmity" by Eleanor Polak

Honorable Mention in Poetry: "Re-Gifted" by Mea Scrapellino

Past ECA Winners

View all past winners submissions on the Hamden Library website.

 

2007  |  2008  |  2009  |  2010  |  2011  |  2012  |  2013  |  2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020| 2021

2021

1st Place in Poetry: "Inheritance" by Cindy Truong
2nd Place in Prose: "In These Our Salad Days" by Eleanor Polak
Honorable mention in Prose: "When the Sun Bursts" by Alyssa Barile

2020

1st Place in Poetry: "Confucius' Failings in the Modern Age" by Franziska Lee
Honorable Mention in Poetry: "Understanding Between Man and Bird-Man" by Alyssa Greenwood
Honorable Mention in Prose: "Fatz Cafe" by Cindy Truong

2019

1st Place in Prose: "Recessional" by Franziska Lee
2nd Place in Prose: "Portrait of an Gentleman in the 21st Century" by Eleanor Polak
2nd Place in Poetry: "Roots" by Jahleesa Thornhill

2018

Honorable Mention in Prose: "Flotsam" by Franziska Lee

2017

1st Place in Prose - Kasey Dugan
1st Place in Poetry - Daniel Kuriakose
2nd Place in Prose - Franziska Lee

2016

1st Place in Prose: "Sharks" by Julia Joy
2nd Place in Poetry: "Nothing is Truly Ever Black" by Jada Middleton
3rd Place in Prose: "Bloodline" by Emmy Roday

2015

No Competition

2014

1st Place in Prose: "Cat Orphanage Room 241" by Nicole Anschutz
2nd Place in Prose: "Frostbite" by Shana Blatt

2013

2nd Place in Prose: “The Yarmulke Kid” by Jonathan Gelernter

2012

1st Place in Prose: "Cold Turkey" by Jonathan Gelernter
1st Place in Poetry: "The Greats" by Sophia O’Brien-Udry
2nd Place in Prose: "The Race Card" by Emerald Douglas
2nd Place in Poetry: "My Father and I" by John Branch

2011

1st Place in Prose: "West Nile Delirium" by Lillian Sun
2nd Place in Prose: "Electron Affinity" by Dana Lew
1st Place in Poetry: "Nkoaranga" by Emma Broder

2010

1st Place in Prose: "Bingo War" by Charlotte Beach
2nd Place in Prose: "Vectors" by Emma Broder
1st Place in Poetry: "Pillar of Salt" by Margaret Lincoln

2009

1st Place in Prose: "Migration" by Tamanna Hossin
1st Place in Poetry: "The Deerfield River Fish" by Alex Nicoll
2nd Place in Prose: "The Brooklyn Fossil" by Miles Margulies
Honorable Mention in Prose: "Grace Notes" by Charlotte Dylan
Honorable Mention in Poetry: "On the Bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad" by Cleo O'Brien-Udry

2008

1st Place in Prose: "Plumber" by Annie Bass
1st Place in Poetry: "July Baby" by Daphne Lew
2nd Place in Poetry: " Crescent Revelations in Marakesh" by Katy Schneider

2007

1st Place in Prose: "Susan and Don and the Taxi and the Lights of the City behind Them" by Anna Sussman