WESTFIELD — The Lakeshore Center for the Arts has announced its winners for the second annual short story and poetry contest.

Entries were received from around the country, from North Carolina, Massachusetts and Virginia. Judging was conducted blindly so that everyone was evaluated equally. This is the second annual Literary Contest hosted by Lakeshore Center for the Arts and part of their writing program, which was supported by a grant from the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation, enabling them to expand in 2025 and add their first Annual Western New York Writers Conference on Oct. 11.

Winners receive a cash prize, frameable certificate and copy of the annual anthology book, which is available at the center and on Amazon.

Short Story Winners were:

First place, “Cat” by Sara Shea.

Second place, “The Rhino in the Garden” by Lawrence Bechtel.

Third place, “Predictions” by Lynda Graham-Barber.

Poetry Winners were:

First, “Haiku from the Porch” by Judy Shuler

Second, “The Old Purple Martin House” by Hank Gerber

Third, “Brown Anole” by Susan Landrigan.

First place winners awarded $250. Second place was awarded $100. Third place winners were awarded $50.

The Short Story winners are in the anthology available on Amazon at the low cost

of $6 and can be found at https://www.amazon.com/Short-Story-Contest-2025.