To recognize the wide geographic participation in this year’s contest, The Telling Room honored one writer from each of Maine’s counties as a county winner, in addition to the grand prize winner.

Cameron Pinchbeck, of Hope, won the recognition for Knox County for "Granite Timbre." (Read more about Cameron here)

Waldo County's Annette McCue Hafford was recognized for "Me and My Introversion." (Read more about Annette here)

The Telling Room, a literary arts education organization whose mission is to empower youth through writing and share their voices with the world, Molly Trainor, a student at John Bapst Memorial High School, is the grand prize winner of the 18th Annual Statewide Writing Contest for their creative nonfiction essay, “Survival of the Flawed.” The grand prize winner receives publication in The Telling Room’s forthcoming annual anthology of youth writing, as well as a cash prize of $250. 

Each fall The Telling Room encourages Maine youth to submit work to the annual contest, and this year received more than 330 submissions of creative writing in total. Youth shared poems, stories, and essays from all across Maine and The Telling Room received writing by youth in each of Maine’s sixteen counties. 

Molly Trainor’s piece was selected as both the contest’s grand prize winner and the Penobscot county winner.

Molly Trainor is a senior from Bangor, though they spent most of their life in Arizona. They wrote "Survival of the Flawed" in an effort to succinctly capture the complex nature of existence as they know it. When they aren't writing, Molly enjoys exploring the art of theatrical and concert lighting, spending time with loved ones, and gardening (when weather permits). 

“The idea for ‘Survival of the Flawed’ came from a place of frustration, truthfully. I wrote it throughout the course of a particularly difficult few weeks,” Trainor shared when asked about the inspiration behind their essay. “It was an attempt to capture the ever-present feeling of defeat and anguish that can come with mental illness, as well as to reiterate a point that I am often trying to remind myself of, which is that I won't get very far just by berating myself for not meeting my expectations of constant stability and perfection. In order to make it through the harder days, I need to be patient with myself, however difficult that may seem.” 

Trainor’s winning essay was selected as the winner by a panel of twenty one judges that included local authors, illustrators, editors, Telling Room alumni, and current Telling Room students. Participants in The Telling Room’s Publishing Workshop set the standards by which each piece of writing was judged and had the final say in selecting winners. 

“I was shocked and so honored to find out I had won,” says Trainor. “I submitted to the contest for fun, just to see what would happen. I've been told that I'm a good writer by a few people, so I figured it was worth a shot. It's really encouraging and wonderful to learn that an essay I wrote resonated with people and was executed well enough to be worth winning a contest. It encourages me to keep writing, in the hopes that something I write in the future will once again connect with someone and be considered worth reading.” 

“‘Survival of the Flawed’ was one of the pieces that stuck with all of our editors after reading it for the first time,” said Lead Teacher Jude Marx, who guides The Telling Room’s afterschool program, Publishing Workshop. “We loved its important message, as well as how the author sustains the extended metaphor throughout the piece. We are thrilled to highlight a strong, powerful creative nonfiction piece this year.” 

“It was exciting to see so many types of writers exploring different genres, styles, and stories that they had to tell,” says Publishing Workshop participant Koi North, who helped select the sixteen winning pieces. “Having the opportunity to work with the authors on the revision process was interesting—I haven’t had the chance to be an editor before.” 

Jules Vázquez, who won the contest in 2023, took part in the contest from the other side of the process this year as a member of the Publishing Workshop. “Youth writing is important, as youth voices can often be silenced,” says Vázquez. “Getting to help young writers find their voices is inspiring. I love being part of young authors’ journeys.”

Additional county winners include: 

"To Be A Girl" by Ella Fenderson of Turner (Androscoggin County)

"The Walk Home" by M. L. Bell of Caribou (Aroostook County)

"After the Turtle Years" by Len Harrison (Cumberland County)

"The Legend" by Morgan McKay of New Sharon (Franklin County)

"Watermelon Lemonade and Iced Tea" by Bronwyn Wachter (Hancock County)

"Thinking" by Denali Garson (Kennebec County)

"Granite Timbre" by Cameron Pinchbeck of Hope (Knox County)

"Patterns: An Abecedarian" by Lucie Hollon (Lincoln County)

"The Essence of Spring" by Dylan van Buren (Oxford County)

"Can you hear it in the silence?" by Abby Burgess of Sangerville (Piscataquis County)

"Sub-zero" by Dynamite June of Bath (Sagadahoc County)

"Identity Auditions" by Paloma Killoran (Somerset County)

"Me and My Introversion" by Annette McCue Hafford (Waldo County)

"Humanity’s Playground" by Charlie Rayford of Vanceboro (Washington County)

"Sleepwalking" by Makili Matty of Kittery (York County) 

The Telling Room is a Maine-based literary arts education nonprofit whose mission is to empower youth through writing and share their voices with the world. Focused on young writers ages 6 to 18, its ten different writing and publishing programs seek to build confidence, strengthen literacy skills, and provide real audiences for student writing.