It isn’t often a Libby student gets recognized on a national level. It is perhaps even less often that one gets acknowledged at Carnegie Hall for a national writing contest.

Yeah, that Carnegie Hall. 

That’s what makes Makayla Cichosz-King so special. The Libby High School senior received national recognition for her short story, “Winter-sealed,” for which she will be honored May 31. 

What literary giant helped Cichosz-King to become a writer? What magnum opus redefined the canon?

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, of course.

She was in elementary school, reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, when she discovered what she wanted to do.

“I realized I wanted to write stories that make people happy or resonate with people,” Cichosz-King said, before contemplating what she said. “Well, ‘Winter-sealed’ won’t make people happy, but hopefully it will resonate.”

The story, which was among the 1 percent of 230,000 entries to be recognized on a national level, received several awards from The Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards of 2013, presented by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers.

She didn’t even realize she was being acknowledged until she sifted through her email.

“I ignored the email for a couple weeks,” Cichosz-King said. “Then I had about 150 emails to look through. When I saw it I was shocked. It was like ‘holy (smokes).’”

“Winter-sealed” is a heavy story, one that the 18-year-old Cichosz-King said stemmed from a depressive phase she was going through. 

In her story, a young man suffers the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and, as Shakespeare put it, shuffles off his mortal coil.

“He walks out onto a frozen lake with a heavy backpack,” Cichosz-King said. “It’s kind of a release for him to realize this is the last escape he can make. He feels in control.”

Despite the depressing subject matter, the writer is quick to clarify that it does not come from personal experience, rather from a writer’s imagination.

Patty Rambo, one of Cichosz-King’s teachers, says the fact her student is honored is special, considering the young woman was so self-conscious a few months ago.

“The thing that’s so cool about this is how insecure she was last fall,” Rambo said. “And she was the only one who picked up the paperwork and ran with it.”

The event in Carnegie Hall happens the same day as graduation, which would pose a problem for the salutatorian. Or, it would, if she planned on going.

“We can’t afford it,” said a resigned Cichosz-King. 

She might still think that if a rather tactless member of the media hadn’t informed the young woman of a fundraising effort to get her to New York (and establish a fund for other bright bulbs like her).

“I had no clue of this,” Cichosz-King said. “You’re telling me this for the first time. I wouldn’t know how to thank (the fundraisers).”

Gary Huntsberger, community activist, is working with some Libby teachers to raise money for gifted and talented students like Cichosz-King. 

The fundraiser is looking for about $3,000 to help Chchosz-King get to Carnegie and to establish a fund for other blossoming artists, writers, scientists, teachers and businesspeople who have shown to be gifted. 

Cichosz-King plans to attend the University of Montana to major in English with an emphasis in creative writing.