UPPAA Announces Winners of the 5th Annual Dandelion Cottage Award February 28, 2022

MARQUETTE, MI (February 28, 2021)— the Upper Peninsula Publishers & Authors Association (UPPAA) is extremely pleased to announce the winners of the 5^th annual Dandelion Cottage Award. The award recognizes U.P. student short story writers of excellence in grades 5 – 12. The Dandelion Cottage Award is funded entirely by charitable donations and no fees have ever been charged to entrants or winners. Students submit stories in consultation with their teachers. This year’s contest was made even more competitive thanks to a free Student Writing Workshop run ahead of the contest by author and educator Deborah K. Frontiera (Calumet, MI). The contest is chaired by Larry Buege (Marquette, MI), a UPPAA Board member and author of the popular Chogan series.

In the senior division (grades 9 – 12), first place will be awarded to Lauryn Ramme, a junior at Luther L. Wright High School in Ironwood, for her story “Birdie” (her sponsor was teacher Tricia Winn). The award includes a medallion, the winner’s name on a traveling school trophy and a $250 cash prize. Second place will be awarded to Siena Goodney, a freshman at Marquette Senior High School (sponsor Tony Parlato) for her story “Letters Under the Floorboards” accompanied by a medallion and $100 prize. A medallion and prize money of $50 will go to third place winner Heidi Helppi, a junior at Negaunee High School, for her story “The Blood of My Love” (sponsor Gina Sorenssen).
In the junior division, for writers in grades 5 to 8, Paige Griffin (grade 8), of Lake Linden-Hubbell Elementary, won for her story “The Olive Branch,” (sponsor Jessica Klein) which confers a $150 prize.

This year’s participants came from nine different U.P. schools from Ironwood to Manistique and from Lake Linden-Hubbell to Escanaba. The judges would like to thank each and every student who submitted their work. For more information about the annual Dandelion Cottage short story contest, visit www.DandelionCottage.org.

First Place Winners – Dandelion Cottage Award

Lauryn Ramme (Senior Div.)                   Paige Griffin (Junior Div.)

Each of the honored stories will appear in the upcoming 6th volume of U.P. Reader, UPPAA’s own annual literary anthology featuring short stories, poetry and essays by its members. This successful publication helps spread the word about the organization, raise money for educational programming, and encourages people in the Upper Peninsula and beyond to read U.P. writers. Complimentary copies of the U.P. Reader are available to all U.P. educators and media for the asking. The on-sale date is scheduled for April 15^th.  Consult your local bookseller for availability or purchase at Amazon. For more information, visit www.UPReader.org.

The awards are tentatively scheduled to be distributed at the 24th Annual UPPAA Conference at the Peter White Library in Marquette on June 4th, 2022. If a new COVID-19 flareup arises, the awards, including cash prizes, medallions, and complimentary copies of U.P. Reader will be distributed through private meetings throughout the U.P.

About the Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association (UPPAA)

The UPPAA was founded in 1998 and is a non-profit 501(c)6 corporation with the goal of educating and empowering authors of the U.P. Among its outreach programs are the U.P. Notable Books List, the Dandelion Cottage Award, and a yearly anthology The U.P. Reader.

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