Meet Aryash Shyam, 14-year-old Indian-American who won $1,000 for a story set in 1776

Beyond historical fiction, Aryash has worked on scientific ideas involving gene editing and space research A 14-year-old Indian-American student from Pennsylvania has won a $1,000 national writing prize for a historical-fiction story set in a Philadelphia print shop on July 4, 1776. Aryash Shyam, a ninth-grade student at Lehigh Valley Academy, was named one of four middle-school winners of the 2026 John Estey Student Writing Competition, organised by the American Writers Museum in Chicago.His winning story, The Weight of Lead, follows a young printer's apprentice working on the Declaration of Independence. Through the experience of a 13-year-old boy, Aryash explores the difference between the promise of equality in the declaration and the reality faced by people who were not given the same freedoms.The American Writers Museum has published his story as part of the competition. According to a report by The American Bazaar, the award is among several achievements Aryash has earned in writing, science and technology. His work includes research proposals related to gene editing in space, a robotic system designed to remove invasive plants and a radio programme in which he interviews sc...