Maryland Center for the Book

Letters About Literature

Students submit letters to their favorite authors for the Letters About Literature writing contest.

Students (grades 4 to 12) demonstrate just how life-changing a good book can be by writing letters to their favorite authors. Students are invited to express their admiration for a favorite author and showcase their reading and writing talents through Letters About Literature.

This national contest encourages students to write a personal letter to an author—from Carl Hiaasen to Anne Frank—that explores how the author’s work changed their thinking about the world and their place in it.

Fans of any genre, fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic, are invited to participate, with the chance to receive awards and recognition at the state and national level.

Past sources of inspiration include Lois Lowery, Antoine De Saint-Exupery, Beverly Naidoo, Sharon Creech, JK Rowling, Robert Louis Stevenson, Anne Frank, Martin Luther King, Jr., Maya Angelou, and Elie Weisel.

Letters About Literature is one of the signature programs of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, and is implemented by the Maryland Center for the Book at the state level.

Please contact Jean Wortman at 410-685-4187 or Email Jean Wortman for more information. Or, visit the Letters About Literature site.

Announcements and materials:

And the 2010 Maryland LAL winners are...

Click here for the complete list!

The Letters About Literature Maryland State Award Ceremony is April 17, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore.

MHC announces the Christine D. Sarbanes Teacher of the Year Award. Read about it here