Erica Dunne, a Horace Greeley senior, has won the inaugural Linda J. Zhang Award for Writing Achievement. This award recognizes her passion and excellence in writing as demonstrated by her submissions to the Chappaqua Young Writers Contest over multiple years. The award was presented to her at the annual Young Writers’ Contest Ceremony at the Chappaqua Library on June 2, 2021. In her acceptance speech, Erica stated, “I’m thankful to the contest for connecting me to writers of many ages in the town, like Linda, even if we were only exchanging words on the page. I know that there are many young writers who are just starting to submit their pieces to the contest and will use their writing to push for something greater than themselves, just as Linda did in her advocacy of the environment” (see below for her full speech)

The Linda J. Zhang Award for Writing Achievement was established by the Linda J. Zhang Memorial Foundation in 2021 in collaboration with the Young Writers Contest, the Friends and the Chappaqua Library to honor the life and passion of Linda J. Zhang. This award will be given out annually to a talented young writer who has demonstrated excellence in writing by outstanding submissions to the Young Writers Contest over multiple years. The award consists of a cash prize to the winner and a matching donation by the Linda J Zhang Memorial Foundation on the winner’s behalf to a charitable environmental organization selected by the winner. Chappaqua library will also showcase an environmental-themed writing piece by the winner.

In her remarks at the ceremony, Ms. Li Tang, president of the Linda J Zhang Foundation expressed hope that the Linda J Zhang Award For Writing Achievement “will encourage young writers to use their gift of language, to create a long-lasting social impact, inspire more people to appreciate nature and promote actions to protect the environment.”

The award ceremony was hosted by Mr. Rich Ma of the Young Writers’ Contest. Ms. Cathy Paulsen, head of Teen Services of the Chappaqua Library introduced the Linda Zhang Award and spoke about Linda and her involvement with the Chappaqua Library. We thank Ms. Katherine Whymark, president of the Friends and Mr. Andrew Farber, director of the Chappaqua Library for their support in hosting the award.

Erica Dunne’s Speech

I am honored to receive the Linda J. Zhang award for writing achievement. Although I did not know Linda personally, I felt connected to her words and the way she described her writing process, “like dissolving sugar strands, trying them out and making them my own.” The Young Writers Contest has encouraged me, since middle school, to treat writing just like this, to try out styles and stories that may feel intimidating, and to embrace, as Linda says in her writing, ‘the frustration; the beauty; the way the words would fit together to create something I had not known I could.” I’m thankful to the contest for connecting me to writers of many ages in the town, like Linda, even if we were only exchanging words on the page. I know that there are many young writers who are just starting to submit their pieces to the contest and will use their writing to push for something greater than themselves, just as Linda did in her advocacy of the environment. Thank you again to the Zhang family and the Chappaqua Library for this award.