June 7, 2013 New York – For the first time incorporating the votes of an international group of young writers and editors, KidSpirit announces the winners of its 2013 KidSpirit Awards.
The KidSpirit Awards honor what KidSpirit’s youth editors have chosen as the most probing and creative contributions to KidSpirit Magazine published in the last year. Winning pieces range from personal essays by teens reflecting on their growth and development to philosophical engagements with life’s biggest questions. Winning feature articles include a profile of the extraordinary courage displayed by an Afghan girl who moved to the United States to go to school; an essay by a Chinese-American teen on the experience of growing up with a “Tiger Mom”; and an article on the evolving relationship between science and religion. KidSpirit’s award-winning Big Question is an exploration of whether time is liberating or oppressive, and in the Interfaith Connections department one winning essay explores how the writer’s Christian background influences her views on money, while the second winner describes her lifelong inquiry into what “God” means to her. Awards are also given for outstanding original poetry, photography, artwork, and media reviews. KidSpirit’s 15 teen winners come from 10 different cities, two countries, and range in age from 13 to 17 years old.
The single adult winner for her contribution to the PerSpectives column is Jay Griffiths, award-winning author of A Sideways Look at Time. Her article “Why You Cannot Schedule a Daydream” on kairological, as opposed to chronological, time was an overwhelming favorite among KidSpirit’s young voters.
These winners reflect an increasingly global editorial program at KidSpirit. This is the first year that award voters included editors from Satellite KidSpirit Editorial Boards newly organized this year in California, Maryland, New Jersey, and India. The voting was capped by a group announcement via a video conference call that featured editors around the world reading the chosen winners in real time, from early morning in California to late evening in Mumbai—the first of many international KidSpirit editorial meetings to come.
A list of winners can be found on KidSpirit’s Press page. To find out more information or interview winners of this year’s KidSpirit Awards, visit www.kidspiritonline.com or email [email protected].