{"id":170033,"date":"2021-03-05T14:08:29","date_gmt":"2021-03-05T19:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=170033"},"modified":"2021-03-05T14:16:09","modified_gmt":"2021-03-05T19:16:09","slug":"connecticuts-2021-letters-about-literature-contest-winners-named","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2021\/03\/connecticuts-2021-letters-about-literature-contest-winners-named\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecticut\u2019s 2021 Letters About Literature Contest Winners Named"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jason Courtmanche, above right, from the UConn Department of English and the Connecticut Writing Project recognizes a past Letters About Literature contest honoree. Editor’s note: this image was taken prior to the pandemic. (Photo Credit: Shawn Kornegay\/Neag School)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Neag School of Education,\u00a0UConn\u2019s Department of English<\/a>, and the\u00a0Connecticut Writing Project (CWP)<\/a>, co-sponsors of the 28th annual\u00a0Letters About Literature<\/a>\u00a0contest, are proud to announce Connecticut\u2019s winners for the 2020-21 academic year.<\/p>\n

Each year, students in Grades 4 through 12 are invited to read a book, poem, or speech and write a letter to that author (living or dead) about how the text\u00a0affected them personally.\u00a0Of the 645 submissions from Connecticut students this year, 96 semi-finalists have been named.<\/a> Each Letters About Literature semifinalist received a letter of recognition. Contest judges then selected a total of 10 submissions state finalists from the contest\u2019s three categories (Grades 4-6, Grades 7-8, and Grades 9-12) as finalists, each of whom will receive a gift card.<\/p>\n

Neag School Professor\u00a0Doug Kaufman<\/a>, CWP Director\u00a0Jason Courtmanche<\/a>, and Department of English Ph.D. candidate Kiedra Taylor served as the contest\u2019s representatives for the state of Connecticut. Read more about the contest<\/a>, and read the winning essays below.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to the Letters About Literature finalists for the state of Connecticut<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Listed below are the finalists with their school and teacher\u2019s name, and the work of literature that is the focus of their essay, with access to their winning submissions in PDF format.<\/p>\n

Level I (Grades 4-6)<\/strong><\/h3>\n