Congratulations to Olivia Runyon, the winner of our 2012 Sylvia K. Burack Writing Award!

Olivia Runyon Olivia Runyon, of Rolla, Mo., won the 2012 Sylvia K. Burack Writing Award for her essay, "The Roots of Humanity." Olivia just finished her senior year of high school at John F. Hodge High School in St. James, Mo. Olivia receives $500, a copy of Writing Fiction from Gotham Writers' Workshop, and a year's subscription to The Writer. The competition required entrants to choose a work of fiction, a poem or a play that influenced them and then write a 600- to 800-word personal essay about how it affected them. Olivia wrote her essay about Alex Haley's book Roots. Congratulations, Olivia! Click here to read Olivia's essay. • • •   The Sylvia K. Burack Writing Award is a writing contest for students in grades 11 and 12 in the U.S. and Canada. The award is made in memory of Sylvia K. Burack, a longtime editor-in-chief and publisher of The Writer, who was known for her dedication to helping writers and editors.