If her high school career is any measure, Rachel Rothenberg, a Squirrel Hill teenager, may well be on her way to establishing herself as a literary voice of her generation.

A senior at Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12, Ms. Rothenberg, 18, is one of 15 recipients nationwide of this year's prestigious Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, winning a gold medal for her portfolio of seven short stories and poems.

With the honor comes a $10,000 cash prize and entry into a club of cultural and literary icons like Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Joyce Carol Oates, Sylvia Plath, Robert Redford, Richard Avedon and John Lithgow, among others, all of whom attained Scholastic medals for their creativity as high school students.

"I don't deserve it," Ms. Rothenberg said. "I don't think I belong [in that group]. I feel weird comparing my work to other people, let alone icons like Andy Warhol."

Before her current internship in the office of Pittsburgh City Councilman Bruce Kraus, Ms. Rothenberg said she spent hours perusing her writing when she interned at the Andy Warhol Museum, an experience that was the basis of her poem "Eulogy for Andy," which was part of her portfolio.

"I try not to compare myself to others because I'm very hard on myself," Ms. Rothenberg said, as she credited her peers and teachers in her writing group at the Creative and Performing Arts school "for helping me become the writer I am."

Her modesty may only be equaled by her brilliance.

Ms. Rothenberg was the winner of the 2009 Teen "Jeopardy!" Tournament, netting a $75,000 cash prize. Most of the money will be put toward college tuition and expenses, she said, but she donated about 20 percent, split evenly between the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and her church, Sixth Presbyterian in Squirrel Hill.

Established by Scholastic Publishing Co. in 1923 and administered by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers since 1994, the Scholastic Arts and Writing Award is a competition that long has been considered a talent sieve for up-and-coming artists.

This year, some 165,000 students submitted entries in fine art, photography, general writing and nonfiction, said Kerri Schlottman, a spokeswoman for the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers.

Of those, 1,300 students were awarded silver medals but only 15 high school seniors were selected as overall winners for their outstanding portfolios, said Ms. Schlottman. They will be honored at a June 9 ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

In "The Incorrupt Body," the opening short story in Ms. Rothenberg's portfolio, she writes about a young woman who returns to "Utopia," a small town in the mining country of West Virginia, to reconnect with her dying father, a grizzled coal miner.

The story delves into questions of identity, the intricacies of mining life and culture juxtaposed against the outside world -- protesters concerned about the safety of coal mining as an industry and its effects on the environment.

In light of the recent disaster of 29 miners killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in Montcoal, W.Va., she said she was "freaked out" by how the central theme of her story has re-emerged in the debate on the safety of coal mining.

"I thought it was really bizarre," said Ms. Rothenberg, who grew up in Pittsburgh but has spent summers in her mother's hometown in southern West Virginia.

"I think it's good that we are talking about the safety of mining, but we sometimes lack the nuance to understand how the people whose livelihood depends on the industry survive," said Ms. Rothenberg, whose writing is inspired by the likes of Walt Whitman, Flannery O'Connor, Allen Ginsberg and Jonathan Safran Foer, among others.

Mara Cregan, a writing teacher and director of the literary arts program at CAPA, said that Ms. Rothenberg's ability "to make insightful connections with the real world" is partly what makes her an exceptional writer.

Another factor is her dedication to the craft, Ms. Cregan said.

"Rachel has always been a good writer, but she spends a lot of time, often outside of class hours, working on her pieces," she said.

Already accepted into several colleges, Ms. Rothenberg's top choices are The College of Wooster in Ohio and Franklin & Marshall in Lancaster. She is still waiting on her first choice, St. John's College in Annapolis, Md., known for its "great books" curriculum.

"I'm still undecided on what I want to do in life. Sometimes I think I want to go into teaching and other times, I feel pulled toward social justice work," she said. "But whatever it is, I'll always be a writer."

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