AUGUSTA -- Poet Wesley McNair thanked seven young writers Friday for helping dispel a popular stereotype about teenagers.

"They keep warning us there's a generation coming along so tied to television and video games that it doesn't give a damn about words," he said. "I haven't seen a sign of it. Thank you for proving imaginative writing is alive and well in the schools of Maine."

McNair, along with authors Richard Russo and Linda Greenlaw, served as judges for the fourth annual Journey Into Writing Contest sponsored by the Maine Community College System.

Gov. John Baldacci, Education Commissioner Susan Gendron and others took part in a luncheon to honor the seven semifinalists and name the three Young Writers of the Year.

Finalist Ryan Henderson, of Vassalboro, who attends Erskine Academy in South China, said he chose to focus his short story on "some guys living in California on a beach struggling with drug addiction." Before the luncheon began, Henderson admitted to a having a case of butterflies.

"It's awesome," he said. "I'm kind of nervous though."

Henderson's English teacher, Dee Porter, said he tends to shy away from attention.

"One thing that sets Ryan apart is that Ryan is an extremely deep thinker," she said.

Berkley Heath of Morse High School in Bath, Shannon Martin of Fort Kent Community High School and Katherine Rich of Kennebunk High School took top honors. Along with a plaque, the winners each get $2,500.

"I'm just really excited," said Rich, a 17-year-old junior from Kennebunk.

Rich said her short story, titled "The Unsaid Problem," was inspired by a friend who struggled with bulimia.

She's not sure whether writing will become a job or a hobby.

"I'm starting to think about going into the medical field," she said.

The contest, which is sponsored by the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram and U.S. Cellular, is open to high school juniors. This year, there were 218 entries from 65 Maine high schools.

Greenlaw, whose most recent book is a novel called "Slipknot," said she still relies on lobstering to help pay the bills.

"At 4:30 this morning, I was shoveling bait," she said.

Her advice to writers? Keep at it, whether it takes the form of books, articles, memos, grants or business plans.

Russo, who won a Pulitzer Prize for "Empire Falls," said he will take a break from judging the contest after four years of reading entries. But he said since the beginning, the entries submitted by the students were all better than what he wrote at their age.

"Writers, like all artists, we don't all progress at the same speed," he said.

Susan Cover -- 623-1056

scover@centralmaine.com