Young Winners of Bay Street's 'Writing The Wave' Competition Announced

Bay Street Theater has announced the winners of “Writing The Wave: The 2024 New Works Creative Writing Competition,” an annual creative writing contest open to all teens across Suffolk County as part of the 10th annual “Title Wave: The 2024 New Works Festival” coming up this weekend at Bay Street Theater. The competition is an opportunity for teens to explore their passions as authors, poets, artists, songwriters, and playwrights.

“This year, we had more entrants than ever, and our panel of esteemed judges were truly challenged to select the winners,” said Allen O’Reilly, Bay Street director of education and community outreach. “This speaks to the great quality of engagement these students are receiving in their English Language Arts courses.”

This year’s judges included Emma Walton Hamilton (children’s author and co-founder of Bay Street Theater), Theresa Trinder (children’s author), Susan Verde (children’s author), Keith Reddin (playwright/actor) and Meg Gibson (playwright/actor).

The winners are:

1st place - Saadiyah Proctor, “Why Blackbirds Cry” (a play), North Babylon High School

2nd place - Jeremiah Watts and Kimpo, “Trust Nobody” (a rap), North Babylon High School

3rd place - Isabelle Caplin, “Not Only a Pencil, Not Only a Car, ”(creative writing), Pierson High School

Honorable Mention: Makayla Cortes, “Days and Ages,” (poetry), William Floyd High School; Robert Gmelch, “I Believe in You,” (poetry), Eastport- South Manor High School; Georgia Kenney, “Just Be,” (poetry), East Hampton High School

The honorees’ pieces will be performed by the writers themselves, other students or acting professionals on Friday, May 17, at 6:30 p.m. as the kick-off for “Title Wave: The New Works Festival,” which will take place May 17 through May 19 at Bay Street Theater on Long Wharf in Sag Harbor. For details, visit baystreet.org.