We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Akron-Summit County Teen Creative Writing Contest! We were blown away by all of the outstanding poems and stories that we received this year. Our judges had a very difficult time selecting 3 winners from all of the fantastic entries we received.   

The 2026 Judge’s Choice Winners are: 

Gianna Hoye, for her poem entitled “Five Senses.” 

Hannah Jackson, for her poem entitled, “In the Mourning.” 

Rayanna Smith, for her poem entitled, “Happiness.” 

We have compiled the short stories and poems that we received into a collection, and we are delighted to offer the digital copy of the collection below. We hope you enjoy reading all of the stories and poems as much as we did. In addition to the digital copy, a physical edition of the book will be added to the Akron-Summit County Public Library collection and available for check out.

This year the short stories and poems will also be available in the Short Story Dispensers located at the Akron-Canton Airport, the Akron Children’s Hospital and the Robert K. Pfaff Transit Center.

Thank you to the wonderful young authors who submitted their work.

Attachment
Teen Creative Writing Collection 2026 Book - (.pdf, 2.26 MB, 206 pages)