Penguin Random House | New York, 08/15/2019

Penguin Random House Celebrates Winners Of Creative Writing Awards

The five winners of the 2019 Creative Writing Awards have received their awards and spent a day at the publishing group’s headquarters in New York. The awards are organized by the publishing group in partnership with the organization “We Need Diverse Books” and aim at discovering the next generation of writing talents.

At the beginning of July, Penguin Random House announced the five winners of the Creative Writing Awards  organized in partnership with the organization “We Need Diverse Books” (WNDB) – last week, the young award winners had the opportunity to personally accept their awards and spend an entire day at the publishing group's headquarters in New York. More than 600 students from 250 high schools in 30 states entered this year’s competition for the 2019 Creative Writing Awards with works covering all literary genres. The awards aim at discovering and promoting the next generation of writing talents.

This year’s winners – Samantha Kirschman, Katherine Sanchez, Siobhan Cohen, Kiora Brooks and Nora Carrier – began their day with an overview of Penguin Random House presented by Christine Stotz, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications. A roundtable discussion on careers in publishing featured a diverse group of PRH colleagues, including Alexandra Hightower, Assistant Editor, Random House Children’s Books; Hugo Bresson, Manager, Library Sales; April Flores, Director, Consumer Insights; and Jon Reyes, Publicity Assistant, Dutton/PPG. A Networking 101 workshop was led by Annysa Polanco, Manager, Diversity & Inclusion, and provided networking tips to help those just starting out in the world of publishing.

The students also had the opportunity to discuss their writings during one-on-one sessions with Penguin Random House editors Anne Speyer, Senior Editor, Random House; Frank Berrios, Senior Editor, Random House Children’s Books; Nicole Counts, Editor & Publishing Manager, One World, Random House; Margo Shickmanter, Editor, Knopf Doubleday; and Stephanie Kelly, Editor, Dutton/PPG. Natasha Diaz, author of the upcoming debut novel “Color Me In” (Delacorte Press), talked about writing her first book and answered questions throughout a special Fireside Chat.

Veronica Valerio, Manager, Corporate Giving, Penguin Random House, was the Master of Ceremony of the afternoon Creative Writing Awards presentation, readings, and reception, which was also attended by employees of Penguin Random House and WNDB, as well as the winners’ parents.

Claire von Schilling, Penguin Random House EVP and Director of Corporate Communications and Social Responsibility, said: “It was truly inspiring for our colleagues and me to meet these brilliant, talented students, and after listening to them read their award-winning works, we came away with a renewed sense of why their work is so singular.” Penguin Random House and WNDB for the first time opened the competition for graduating seniors from public high schools across the country, expanding the award’s original New York City scope. In addition to the day at Penguin Random House in New York, the award includes a $10,000 college scholarship for each of the winners.