By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

Isla Hansen is one of the best young writers in Maine.

At least literary giants Stephen King, Tabitha King and Richard Russo think so.

“It tells you something when a story gets under your skin and you don’t know why, you can’t pinpoint it,” said Russo, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Empire Falls.”

Hansen, 17, a junior at Lewiston High School, was chosen Thursday as one of the three winners of the Journey into Writing Contest.

Sponsored by the Maine Community College System, the contest asked all Maine high school juniors to submit their best poetry, essays and short stories for a chance at $2,500. More than 400 teenagers entered. Hansen was one of the 13 semifinalists, the only Lewiston student in that group.

Her story, “Fiddler Boy,” is about a young violinist who throws his hometown into a tizzy when he quits playing.

“He wanted to play for himself, not for the band, not because anyone was telling him what to do,” said Hansen, who played the saxophone for six years.

The judges, Russo and the Kings, were charged with finding the three winners. On Thursday, in a cozy conference center in Hallowell, each novelist publicly praised all 13 teenagers for their imaginations, creativity and hard work.

“This ability to take people from the page and into your mind, it’s a remarkable ability,” Stephen King said. “You can do anything.”

Before the winners were announced, Hansen had said she wasn’t nervous. In a yellow shirt and bright turquoise tie, she laughed and chatted with her parents and two English teachers.

“Just being here is fun,” she said. “Just being able to write is fun.”

When her name was called, Hansen showed little emotion. At the front of the room, officials handed her a $2,500 check and a large plaque. Stephen and Tabitha King, Russo and Gov. John Baldacci shook her hand.

Hansen was stunned. When asked to say something to the roomful of officials and news media, she leaned over the microphone and grinned sheepishly.

“Uh, thanks,” she said.

A few minutes later, when it all sunk in, Hansen couldn’t stop smiling.

“It’s awesome!” she said.

For a while, Hansen was a celebrity.

In the middle of the ceremony, Tabitha King snuck over and asked to trade ties. King liked Hansen’s style and thought her own yellow tie, with its multicolored monkeys, would suit Hansen.

After the ceremony, Baldacci stopped to offer his congratulations. Stephen King wove his way through the crowd to meet her.

“I loved your story,” he said.

Russo said he was impressed by Hansen’s submission, calling it a “highly imaginative piece of writing.” He said he enjoyed it more and more with every reading.

“I thought it (Hansen’s story) was one of the most imaginative pieces we saw,” Russo said.

The other two winners were Matthew Gleason, a student at Freeport High School, for his short story “Out of Left Field,” and Matt Powers, a North Yarmouth Academy student, who won for his short story “Seaweed.”

Stories from all 13 semifinalists can be found at writing.mccs.me.edu.

An excerpt from Isla Hansen’s “Fiddler Boy”

In their little Franco-Irish American town, where newspaper boys whistled and bakers hummed, the Haynsworths pleased many. In their little Franco-Irish American town many people were particularly pleased when Fennel Haynsworth played the violin. So you can imagine how disquieted their little Franco-Irish American town was when Fennel Haynsworth quit the school orchestra.

“But you’re first chair!” his mother said.

“I’m the only chair.”

“There is no such thing as an orchestra without a violin!”

“I also thought there was no such thing as an Orchestra who didn’t play music. I don’t want to violin. I want to fiddle.”

“That’s ridiculous, Fen!”

“Then I quit.”

For a few days, the debate raged. To his mother, his teachers, his friends, his orchestra-mates, his music instructor, Fennel declared his choice. How the town buzzed!

“Aren’t they the same? A violin and a fiddle?”

“Since when does the orchestra not play music?”

“What are we playing, then?”

“What’s the difference between a fiddle and a violin?”

“The Orchestra plays”

“He’s the only violin!”

“How will we do Vivaldi?”

“We don’t do Vivaldi!”

“We don’t even tune!”

“It’s really not that bad.”

“So, we’re missing a few sections; so what?”

“Does he even have a fiddle?”

“So we don’t play that well; so what?”

“Will they still charge the same for tickets?”

“Did the orchestra charge?”

“I really liked that violiner kid”

One old man with an Irish accent addressed him. “Son, a violin and a fiddle are the same bloody thing. Hasn’t anyone ever told ye that?” To this Fennel responded,

“But a violinist and a fiddler are not.”

And that was that. He cleaned the violin, white with rosin, and put it away.