Centennial Youth Art and Writing Contest
In honor of their 100-year anniversary, the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FP&R) recently held a youth writing contest, where school-aged children were asked to imagine, in a few paragraphs, what a tree might say if it were given the opportunity to talk. I had the great privilege of helping to judge the contest.
Many of the pieces were wonderfully written, and everyone involved was suitably impressed by the talents of Vermont’s young people. You can see all the winning entries at the VT FP&R Centennial website.
Good writing is graceful, subtle – it’s as much about what you don’t say as what you do. As a writer matures, he or she realizes that the craft of writing revolves around this art of omission. As poet William Stafford puts it, saying the things you do not have to say weakens your talk; hearing the things you do not need to hear dulls your hearing. Change the verb in that sentiment and you’ve pretty much got the craft of writing summed up
In this spirit I’d like to highlight one particular winning entry, written by William Douglas, a first-grader from Groton, Vermont.
One day I was walking in the forest. Then I found a tree. It seemed like a perfect tree for a tree house. Then . . . the tree started to talk!
“Hi,” it said.
“Hi,” I said back.
“Can you do something for me?” it asked.
I said: “Yes, what is it?”
“Use both sides of the paper,” said the tree.
“Okay,” I said.
As adults, all of our words have anchors attached to them. Concepts like “the environment” and “conservation” are rife with socio-political baggage. These topics can get so complicated that it’s almost impossible to write about them in a universally resonant way. When confronted with the task, we tend to go on and on and on.
Enter the simple beauty of the first-grade mind. I think William captured all the grace notes here in 65 words.
Congratulations to all of the talented Vermont writers who participated in the contest.
Check out a news piece that WCAX did on the contest winners, with a video of some of the readings.
Finally, the Department is currently holding a photography contest, open to everyone, which seeks to explore the relationship between Vermonters and their forests. Check out their web site for more information and a PDF of contest rules.