A Wyoming student has placed nationally in the Letters About Literature contest, a Library of Congress writing competition. The program, concluding its 27th year, asks students in grades 4 through 12 to write to an author about how his or her work affected their lives. More than 29,000 students from across the country participated in this year’s initiative.
Saimaa Widi of Cheyenne received a National Honor Award in Level 2 (grades 7-8) competition, along with a prize of $500. Widi was inspired by the poem “Why Am I Not Good Enough” by Olivia Vella.
“I saw myself in the words you were speaking, realizing how many times I had felt the way you said you felt,” Widi wrote. “I watched that video over and over and over again, holding on to everything you were saying. That’s the day I became a whole lot happier.”
Widi’s letter, along with those from other state-level winners, may be found on the Wyoming State Library’s website at library.wyo.gov/letters-about-literature/.
The Wyoming Center for the Book is a program of the State Library. Letters About Literature is promoted by the Library’s Center for the Book through its affiliated state centers, state libraries, state humanities councils and other organizations. Learn more at read.gov/letters/.