The Random House Inc. Creative Writing Competition for New York City Public High School Seniors awarded seniors Singha Hon one of four first-place 10,000 dollar scholarships, Vivian Tseng one of 20 Best of Borough 1,000 dollar scholarships and Emma Dries one of 15 Artist Recognition 500 dollar awards. The competition also recognized seniors Julia Chen, Clio Contogenis, Danielle Oberdier and Emma Ziegellaub-Eichler as four of 75 seniors to win Honorable Mention Creativity Kits.

The large number of students recognized from Stuyvesant is not uncommon. “Stuyvesant usually has someone who ranks high in the competition,” English teacher Emily Moore said.

According to the Random House Inc. Web site, the competition “recognizes the unique vision and voices of New York City high school seniors with scholarship awards. The Competition further supports student writers throughout the writing process with in-school programs and teacher training.” Seniors may submit a literary piece of one of four categories: poetry/spoken word, fiction/drama, personal essay/memoir and graphic novel.

Most of the Stuyvesant students who entered the competition heard about it from their English teachers and submitted assignments that they had written in class.

Hon received the first place award, which is given to four entries citywide, one from each category, for her poem “Ode to Anna May Wong: A Half-Asian’s List of Demands.” She wrote and revised the poem for Moore’s Poetry Workshop class (E7PW). Moore suggested to Hon that she submit the poem for consideration in the competition.

“Singha’s poem is a great example of a piece that was worked on and appreciated by classmates and a valid piece to submit to the [Creative Writing Competition],” Moore said.

Hon’s poem is about the first Asian-American actress Anna May Wong who “was able to do so much despite facing racism,” Hon said.

“Anna May Wong was Asian, a woman and an actress. She was seen as the “other” and was not really accepted,” Hon said. “I can relate to feeling like half of something as someone half Asian.”

Moore likes the identity and politics side to Hon’s poem. “It was a new take on a performance piece,” Moore said. “[It] is a poem about an Asian American written by an Asian American talking about the problems with an earlier generation.”

Tseng received a Best of Borough award, which is given to one entry of any category from applicants from each borough, for her memoir “Dandelions.” The memoir is about her father, family problems throughout her childhood and her emotional development.

She wrote this piece as an assignment for her Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition: Great Books (E73X) class. Her English teacher Holly Weiss encouraged students in her class to apply. According to Tseng, her English courses at Stuyvesant have helped her cross new boundaries with her writing. “I opened up and my writing got more personal,” Tseng said. “I was happy with how my pieces were turning out.”

Dries received an Artist Recognition award, which is given to three entries of any category from applicants from each borough, for her Fiction/Drama submission “Desecration.” The short story is about a girl who fails her Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) after her brother passes away, and delves into the girl’s understanding and battle with psychology and religion.

Dries decided to enter the competition after hearing about it from a family friend and from Weiss. Dries wrote “Desecration” as an assignment for her Great Books class for which students wrote a piece using the writing style and structure of Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway.” Weiss recommended Dries to use her piece for the competition.

Dries also used “Desecration” for other writing competitions. She submitted a Creative Non-Fiction portfolio to the national YoungArts 2010 competition and received honorable mention. She submitted the piece to The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards of 2010 and won a Gold Key award, which is the highest level regional award given.

“It is great to get feedback from another group who can judge [the literary pieces],” Dries said. “[Feedback] shows if you are moving in the right direction.”

Chen and Contogenis each received honorable mention awards for their memoirs. The award is given to three entries in each category from each borough. They heard about the competition from their English teacher Eric Grossman in their Great Books class.

Grossman believes that they are talented writers and have demonstrated their ability in class assignments. “Every piece that [Contogenis and Chen] have submitted has been stellar,” Grossman said.

Chen’s memoir “Two Fists” is about her parents struggle in America and their struggle raising her and her sister. She decided to submit her piece because “[The Creative Writing Competition] is a prestigious competition and I wanted to see how it would go,” Chen said.

Contogenis’s memoir “Mary Ellen, Nana Mary” is about her grandmother who died recently.

“Before my grandmother died she had anxiety issues. I felt contemptuous about them at first, but that changed after she died,” Contogenis said. “My grandmother died the weekend the assignment was due and that was all I could think about.”

Contogenis also submitted the memoir to The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards of 2010 and won a Gold Key award.

“I had a story I really liked and it is a good idea to get my story our there and get recognition,” said Contogenis, explaining her reason for submitting her memoir to the competitions.

Oberdier received an honorable mention award for her poem “The Connection.” Ziegellaub-Eichler also received an honorable mention award for her entry in the fiction/drama category, “Dollhouse.”

“Every senior should submit their pieces [to the Creative Writing Competition]” Moore said. “It’s an opportunity to [win] awards and to be recognized for your writing.”