At the 2023 Maine Literary Awards on May 18, Deering High School senior Mayinga Mukinayi won the Youth Nonfiction Award for her piece "No Water, No Food: Thirteen Days in the Jungle." Her story was published in the Telling Room chapbook, "Between My Ribs."

Another Deering senior, Nazik Adam, was a finalist. Mayinga credits her teacher Molly Callaghan for connecting her with the Telling Room and appreciates the integration of writing and art in a Deering art class.

The Telling Room is a Portland-based literary arts education organization dedicated to empowering youth through writing and sharing their voices with the world.

The Telling Room book is available in the Deering library. The link to purchase the Telling Room book is: https://www.printbookstore.com/between-my-ribs
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