Westport 7th Grader Wins UConn Writing Contest

Grant Sirlin shows off his award. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
A seventh grader at Westport’s Coleytown Middle School has won the 2011 Connecticut Student Writers Contest sponsored by the Connecticut Writers Project at the University of Connecticut.

Grant Sirlin’s personal memoir “On the Edge” was selected from more than 1,000 entries and will be published in the 2011 Connecticut Student Writers Magazine, according to an announcement by the Westport schools’ office.

Grant and his fellow authors were honored at a reception for the writers, their families and their teachers on the UConn campus at Storrs on May 10, it said.

Paul Ferrante, Grant’s language arts teacher, said that his story, a recounting of his exploits at a recent skiing competition, was notable for its fast pacing and vivid description, and was a perfect example of techniques employed in the school’s seventh grade personal memoir unit.