Chevy Chase Writers Selected as Finalists in Bethesda Literary Festival Contests

Chevy Chase is well-represented in the group of finalists selected last week in the Bethesda Literary Festival's Essay and Short Story Contests, according to a festival news release.

For the contests, the Bethesda Urban Partnership and Bethesda Magazine "partnered to invite adults ages 18 and over and high school students ... to enter a 500-word essay or a 4,000-word short story. Finalists were selected from more than 400 submissions," the release stated.

The essay contest finalists for 2013 are:

• Barbara de Boinville, Chevy Chase
• Heather Davis, Front Royal
• Becki Kapelusznik, Baltimore
• Casey Mock, Washington, DC 
• Kim O’Connell, Arlington
• Charles Somerville, North Potomac

The high school essay contest finalists for 2013 are:

• Marthe Folivi, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School
• Rachel Bird, Walt Whitman High School
• Angelina DiPaolo, Holton-Arms School
• Ioanna Mattke, The Field School
• Matthew Raab, Winston Churchill High School
• Joel Zeballos, Washington-Lee High School

The short story contest finalists for 2013 are:

• Brian Cocoran, Chevy Chase
• Joe Oppenheimer, Chevy Chase
• Aaron Hanna, Bethesda
• Shelby Harper, Bethesda

The high school short story finalists for 2013 are:

• Karen Foecke, Damascus High School
• Saachi Nangia, Holton-Arms School
• Christina Tseng, Poolesville High School
• Johanna Wassermann, National Cathedral School

Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 19, at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda (7400 Wisconsin Ave.). The first-place adult winner in each category will receive $500 and will be published in Bethesda Magazine. Second-place winners each will receive $250, third-place winners each will receive $150 and honorable mentions each will receive $75. Each first-place winner also will receive a gift certificate to The Writer’s Center.

The first-place high school winners will be published in Bethesda Magazine and each will be awarded $250. Second-place winners each will receive $100, third-place winners each will receive $50 and honorable mentions each will receive a $25 gift card.

All winners’ essays and short stories will be published on the Bethesda Magazine's and Bethesda Urban Partnership’s websites.

"The Bethesda Literary Festival celebrates literature with three days of free events featuring novelists, journalists, poets and children’s events," the release stated. All events take place in downtown Bethesda. For more information, visit www.bethesda.org.