WAG believes in encouraging young people to write because it helps them develop a strong voice, critical thinking skills, and confidence in expressing their ideas. By fostering a love of writing early on, we empower young people with a lofelong tool for learning, self-expression, and meaningful participation in society.
The Committee of the Sunshine State Book Festival is proud to present the winner of the 2026 Sunshine State Teen Lit Awards, Carter Corbin. Carter received the Grand Prize Scholarship of $500 from Steve Spurrier’s HBC Foundation. Since its fruition in 2022, the Writers Alliance, the HBC Foundation, and the Lynx Bookstore have given away more than $4,000 in scholarships and prizes to deserving FL middle and high school students. There were more than 200 entries in this year’s contest. Thirty-six judges deliberated for three weeks until the top seven best short stories were chosen. Congratulations Carter and the other scholarship-winning finalists for writing wonderful, creative short stories for the 2026 Sunshine State Teen Lit Awards. These young writers represent the future of our literary arts and culture.
Carter is in Ms. Sarah Adam’s 10th Grade Honors Class at Escambia High School in Pensacola, FL. Please read Carter Corbin’s submission below.
Pirate Story
by Carter Corbin
Captain Silas Grimshaw stood at the bow of the Sea Serpent, the salty wind whipping his coat and tangling his hair. The moon shone silver on the restless waves, casting the pirate ship’s shadow far across the water. Silas’s eyes, sharp as a hawk’s, scanned the horizon for any sign of prey, or of the monstrous kraken he had sworn to find.
Unlike most pirates, Silas and his crew did not plunder for gold, jewels, or rum. They stole for knowledge. It was a secret that set him apart from the lawless crooks who ruled the seas. For years, tales of the kraken had haunted Silas: a beast with tentacles thick as ship masts, an eye like a stormy moon, and the power to drag whole galleons beneath the surface.
Tonight, the Sea Serpent set out toward its latest target: the Royal Explorer, a merchant vessel rumored to carry ancient scrolls, and a rare map said to pinpoint the kraken’s sightings. Silas turned to his first mate, a woman named Nessa, who grinned back with a gold-toothed smile. “Ready the crew,” Silas whispered. “No killing. We take the books and leave.” Nessa nodded and vanished into the shadows. Moments later, the pirates, boots muffled with rags, faces masked, slipped onto the Explorer as silently as sea mist. While the crew of the merchant ship slept, Silas and his scholars, who were pirates but learned ones, raided the captain’s quarters and the hold, gathering manuscripts, star charts, and the map. No one on the Explorer stirred. Back aboard the Sea Serpent, the pirates gathered around a lantern as Silas spread the loot.
Nessa unfurled the map, her eyes wide. “Look here, Cap’n,” she said, tracing a pattern of red X’s that clustered around a chain of volcanic isles. “A kraken’s hunting ground, if the legends are true,” murmured Finn, the ship’s linguist, as he deciphered a scroll in Greek. For months, the Sea Serpent followed the map’s clues, raiding libraries, museums, and the ships of naturalists.
Each time, they left their targets alive but lighter of knowledge. They pieced together sailors’ tales, inked sketches of tentacles, and even a page torn from a madman’s diary that described the beast’s eye, “as deep and green as the heart of the sea.” At last, one stormy night near the volcanic isles, the Sea Serpent’s lookouts shouted.
The ocean boiled and heaved. From the depths rose a tentacle, slick and glistening, wrapping around the bow. The crew froze, but Silas stepped forward, holding a lantern and the diary page. “We seek knowledge, not war!” he called into the gale. “We wish to know you, not harm you!” For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then the kraken’s eye, vast and emerald, blinked at Silas. It uncoiled, tentacles gently brushing against the hull, and vanished with barely a ripple.
Leo Hines
I agree with the goal of the Sunshine state Tern Lit contest. We need to encourage our young people. I salute Carter and his entertaining story, as well as all the other young writers.
I liked Carter’s story, which kept me wondering what happens next.
His use of colorful language, descriptions and his noble goal of seeking knowledge was great. My only regret was that it ended too soon. I wanted to see more interaction between Captain Silas and the sea monster, Kraker. Maybe they could work together for positive adventures. This story could be the genesis of a book. I hope to hear more about Carter, and possibly WAG can publish some of the other young writers’ stories.
Debbie
Agree with you! As the new President of WAG, I am interested in attracting new young members as well as discovering other community writing and reading opportunities for all of WAG’s members.