CBC SASKATCHEWAN AND ST. PETER'S COLLEGE ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF THE

2012 YOUTH WRITE FOR RADIO CONTEST

Michelle Hedstrom, of Maryfield School and Riel Castro-Zunti of Bethlehem Catholic High School in Saskatoon have been selected as the winners of the 2012 Youth Write for Radio competition for their stories: At All Costs and Dense Space. Honourable mention goes to Sharlee Zazalak of Unity Composite High School for Oooky Spooky. This is the final year for the Youth Write competition which has existed in some form since 1999.

The winning entries will air on SoundXchange Saturday, June 2. The broadcast begins at 5 pm on CBC Radio One, 102.5 FM in Regina, 94.1 FM in Saskatoon and around the province at 540 on the AM dial. People outside the province can listen to a livestream of the show at 5 pm Saskatchewan time, by going to http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ and selecting Regina as your city to listen to CBC Radio 1 live.

The contest is presented by CBC Radio One Saskatchewan in partnership with St. Peter's College. Each year, Saskatchewan youth aged 12 to 18 years, are eligible to participate in the competition which focuses on a specific genre of writing; from dramatic monologue to short story.

When asked about the contest, CBC producer and contest coordinator, Kelley Jo Burke stated, "I am always so impressed by the number of young people who are willing to make the leap, and share their writing. I read every submission, and I can tell you, there are so many terrific young writers in Saskatchewan. "

Nationally renowned mystery author and judge Gail Bowen says of the Michelle Hedstrom's At All Costs, the realistic story of a young athlete pushed over the edge by a driven parent, "Michelle has a good sense of pacing and she knows what to leave out. She jumps right into her story without wasting time on expository material. Her protagonist is sympathetic and intriguing."

Says Bowen of winner Riel Castro-Zunti's absurdist brain-twister Dense Space, "this student is brilliant....the story challenging. He is a talented young writer."

And of Sharlee Zazalak's, honourable mention scare piece, Oooky Spooky, the judge, Gail Bowen said "Sharlee does know how to write. She jumps right in with a nice hook that establishes the plot of her story. The sleepover dialogue is realistic, and Sharlee does a nice job of rationalizing the Ooky Spooky events, and then turning the rationalization on its head. And ...she's only 14!"

This year's winners will receive a full professional writing fee, and a full professional production of their story for broadcast on CBC Radio One's SoundXchange heard Saturdays at 5 p.m.

In addition, winners will receive a scholarship worth one full university course, worth nearly a thousand dollars,  at St. Peter's College in Humboldt, to be used when they are in university. St. Peter's College is located in east central Saskatchewan.

The scholarship at St. Peter's College is for one full year course (maximum 6 credits) plus free enrollment in one of their Summer Writing Workshops.

and their story published in The Society, an annual publication of excellence through St. Peter's College.

We thank St. Peter's College for their continued support and sponsorship of Youth Write.

St. Peter's College, located 9 km from Humboldt in east central Saskatchewan, is affiliated with the University of Saskatchewan and offers fully accredited Arts and Science, Commerce and Agriculture courses to first and second year students. For further details of these programs and their university affiliation, please visit their website - www.stpeterscollege.ca .

SoundXchange is heard Saturdays 5 to 6 p.m. on CBC Radio One in Saskatchewan (102.5 FM in Regina, 94.1 FM in Saskatoon and 540 AM throughout the province). For more information on SoundXchange and the winning entries, please go to www.cbc.ca/soundxchange/youthwrite.

About CBC/Radio-Canada

CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada's national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. The Corporation is a leader in reaching Canadians on new platforms and delivers a comprehensive range of radio, television, Internet, and satellite-based services. Deeply rooted in the regions, CBC/Radio-Canada is the only domestic broadcaster to offer diverse regional and cultural perspectives in English, French and eight Aboriginal languages, plus seven languages for international audiences. In 2011, CBC/Radio-Canada is celebrating 75 years of serving Canadians and being at the centre of the democratic, social and cultural life of Canada.