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CARNEGIE LIBRARY OF PITTSBURGH’S TEEN MEDIA AWARDS

CALLING ALL TEEN WRITERS, POETS AND CONTENT CREATORS

February 24, 2023

Are you a teen in Allegheny County who loves to create? Starting Monday, March 13th, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will begin accepting submissions from young writers, visual artists, musicians, filmmakers and photographers for its 2023 Teen Media Awards. The Awards, which serve as a platform for celebrating teens and their original content are divided into two parts – The Ralph Munn Creative Writing Awards and the Labsy Awards — and recognize a broad range of creative work.

Monetary prizes will be awarded for first ($250) and second ($100) place entries in each of the following categories: Poetry, Short Prose, 2D Art & Design, 3D Art & Design, Filmmaking, Fashion, Music, and Photography.


Ralph Munn Creative Writing Contest

The Library’s Ralph Munn Creative Writing Contest is an opportunity for teens to showcase their writing talents, improve skills and have their work published.  All “entries of quality” are published in an anthology, which is distributed to all of the public libraries in Allegheny County, as well as to the schools whose students are published in the book. Each published teen also receives an anthology.

Contest is open to all high school students (9th-12th grade) in Allegheny County. All entries must be submitted by 9:00 am on Monday, April 17, 2023.

Category Descriptions:

Short Prose
Writers may submit original works of fiction or creative nonfiction no greater than 4,000 words in length. Short stories, personal narratives, essays, memoirs and commentaries are all acceptable for this category.

Poetry
Poems of any form, including –but not limited to– free verse, sonnets, villanelles, sestinas, slam-style poetry and narrative poetry are accepted.

Complete rules, submission details, and past anthologies can be found on the Library’s website at carnegielibrary.org/kids-teens/teenspace/ralphmunn/


The Labsy Awards

The Labsy Awards recognize the creative work of Pittsburgh teens in a variety of categories including filmmaking, music, and fashion.

Contest is open to Allegheny County teens in grades 6 -12. All entries must be submitted by 9:00 am on Monday, June 26, 2023.

Category Descriptions:

2D Art & Design
Submit photographs, scans, or image files of your 2D original artwork created digitally or using studio art materials such as paint, charcoal, or ink.

3D Art & Design
Submit photographs of your 3D original artwork created digitally, like a 3D printed object, or using studio art materials such as clay or papier-mâché.

Short Film
Submit an original film no more than 10 minutes. Film can be in any genre (scripted, documentary, music, video, etc.).

Fashion
Submit photos or patterns for handmade, craftily modified, or up-cycled apparel and accessories.

Music
Submit an original song. Composition can be in any genre.

Photography
Submit original photography. Photos can be of any subject, in any style, taken with any type of camera.


Complete rules and submission details can be found on the Library’s website at carnegielibrary.org/kids-teens/teenspace/labsyawards/