Gaithersburg Book Festival Announces High School Short Story Contest Finalists

By Gail Norris | Published April 9, 2018

The Gaithersburg Book Festival has announced the names of nine finalists for its eighth annual Short Story Contest for high school students. The first-, second- and third-place winners and the fan favorite will be announced at the Festival on Saturday, May 19, 2018.

The nine finalists, listed in alphabetical order with the school they attend and county in which they reside, are:

Gaby Brennan, Oakton High School (Fairfax County)
Lance Colet, Oakton High school (Fairfax County)
Keira DiGaetano, Richard Montgomery High School (Montgomery County)
Madeline Hudson, Gaithersburg High School (Montgomery County)
Nathalie Jabbour, Walter Johnson (Montgomery County)
Doris Jimenez, Southern High School (Anne Arundel County)
Maria Korzeniewicz, Sandy Spring Friends School (Prince George’s County)
Natalia Pereira, Walter Johnson High School (Montgomery County)
Talia Yu, Maret School (Washington, D.C.)

Nisha Sharma, author of “My So-Called Bollywood Life” and a featured teen/young adult author at the Gaithersburg Book Festival, will serve as the 2018 judge, selecting the top three stories.

The nine finalist stories have been posted to the Gaithersburg Book Festival website so visitors can read the stories and vote for their favorite. Fan favorite voting will close on May 7.

Prizes for first-, second- and third-place winners are $250, $100 and $50, respectively. The fan favorite winner will receive $25. Prizes are provided courtesy of the Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County.

To be eligible for the short story contest, students had to be enrolled in grades 9-12 at a public or private school, or be in a homeschool program, for the 2017-18 school year. Additionally, entrants had to reside in Maryland, Virginia or the District of Columbia.