This summer young writers from around the province were invited to send in short stories to Delta's third annual Junior Authors Short Story Contest.

Forty-six stories were submitted from 13 municipalities ranging from Vancouver Island to the Cariboo.

"We had eight stories from Prince George alone," said contest organizer Laura Thomas of Ladner. "That's just three more submissions than we had from Delta."

But Delta did take home some prizes. For the second year, Noa Wang of Ladner won the tween category (ages 10-13) with her tightly written and descriptive short story, Stars on the Surface.

Aside from winning the tween category, Wang's tale of survival was also the highest rated story across all categories. She will take home a $100 gift certificate from Delta Continuing Education plus a Chapters gift card as a bonus.

Other top writers in the tween category include Lisa Kirby of North Vancouver, who placed second with her war story, Blind Men, and Mission's Erin Riesen, who placed third with New Beginning, the story of an AIDS orphan.

In the teen category (ages 14-17), it was 16-year-old Sophia Ma of Vancouver who captured first prize with her powerful story about insomnia called Sleeping. Ma takes home a $100 Chapters gift card donated by Ricki Willing of Sutton Seafair Realty.

Shaely Ritchey of Prince George took second prize in the teen category with her story about anorexia, A Game of Chess. A fictional narrative of the Haiti earthquake by Valerie Flokstra of Chilliwack took third prize.

In the new children's incentive category (ages 6-9), it was Little Red Hoodlum, a modern retelling of Red Riding Hood, by nine-year-old Dominic Jarecki of Ladner that took the top spot. Each winner in this category will receive a copy of Thomas' CD, Agent Story Tales from the Briefcase.

Overall, Thomas said she and co-judges Joanne Ashdown of Canuck Place and Deneka Michaud of Delta TV were thrilled with the calibre of the entries.

To encourage contestants to keep developing their talent, Thomas is offering free telephone consultations that will begin next week.

Thomas plans to run the contest again next summer. Her ongoing goal is to make Delta a hot spot for developing writing a talent.

She would like to acknowledge the support of the following individuals and organizations: the Optimist, Delta Parks, Ron McNeill of Delta Continuing Education, Ricki Willing, Werner's Auto Klink, Darlene Foster, Black Bond Books, Diana Crosby, Sure Copy, Dragonfly Gallery and Kidsbooks in Vancouver.

For a list of winners, visit www.agentstory.net.