Storytellers of Tomorrow Writing Contest

First Place: “Ricochet” by Julia Chen
Judges’ Notes: “This taut music-themed story powerfully crescendos before reaching a haunting, memorable ending. It hits all the best notes and has strong, evocative writing throughout.”

Second Place: “Bitter” by April Yu
Judges’ Notes: “This variation on Snow White’s story has just the right amount of humor, heart, and hurt. The care and precision of language, too, is what makes this so memorable.”

Third Place: “Dubious Desiderium” by Felicia Powell
Judges’ Notes: “In a series of transcriptions of audio/video logs, we learn about the pressures a young woman faces from a tormented past. This science fiction story delves deep into issues about identity, community, and trust.”

Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order)

• “Nightmare Monster” by Brigid Davis

• “A Light Through the Clouds” by Toby Davies

• “Always in Style” by Hannah Englander

• “Placebo” by Linen Golding

• “Elliot, Is That You?” by Alexia Holliday

• “The Exiled” by Anna Hurd

• “Frosted Secrets” by Erin Hurd

• “Left and Right” by Fiona Jin

• “Solitaire” by Quinn Kennedy

• “Acidos Eros” by Lea Krow

• “Do You Dare?” by Julia Lane

• “Wisteria” by Meaghan Levy

• “Shrooms” by Oscar Lopez

• “Attachment” by Raelie Loredo

• “Pandora’s Purgatory” by Christian Maloney

• “The Crime of Solitude” by Wareesha Qureshi

• “The Secret of Eyro” by Marley Stauffer

• “Starstruck” by Rebecca Tittl

• “Papa’s Friends” by Emma van Heerden

• “Lune (Insanity in 3 Acts)” by Jagger van Vliet

• “Storm” by Ava Warford

• “Chimney Talk” by Asenath Wetzsel

• “Light and the Lack of It” by Angelina Yeung

First Place: “To Make Music” by Abby Rosenfeldt
Judges’ Notes: “A love story told in a series of summertime vignettes. The author’s gorgeous restraint echoes the characters’ inability to fully comprehend what they are to each other and heightened my connection to their relationship.”

Second Place: “Quiet Stays the Matador” by Erik Herrera
Judges’ Notes: “Using bold, visceral descriptions and surprisingly playful language, this story provides a heartbreaking examination of family traditions, masculinity, and violence.”

Third Place: “Social Suicide” by Anna Parker
Judges’ Notes: “While conducting a funeral for dolls, two girls begin the painful process of growing up. The author’s quiet humor sharpens the story’s sense of melancholy.”

Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order)

• “Return to Grass” by Nikitha Anand

• “The Letter from Samarra” by Sonya Azencott

• “Afflicted” by Savannah Bell

• “The Milliner” by Maithreyi Bharathi

• “Cleave” by Izabella Blancaneaux

• “Highway Fog” by Kate Choi

• “A Conversation with Trees” by Cora Hanfland

• “Cinders” by Claire He

• “August” by Audrey Jung

• “The Final Judgement, or Independence Day” by Megha Khemka

• “Last Winter, I Learned How to Love” by Heather Qin

• “Ophelia Goes Down to the River” by Annalise Ross

• “Lobotomy” by LaVie Saad

• “Grapefruit Moon” by Emma Stapp

• “Cigarette” by Katherine Streepey

• “Tituba Speaks” by Arezu Kabuli

• “My Dad and His Overgrown Child” Isabella Xu

First Place: “Ancestral Dissonance” by Kyo Lee
Judges’ Notes: “Through gorgeous imagery and striking metaphors, the writer probes the painful process of Americanization for a first-generation Korean immigrant. Everything about this deeply felt piece seems artful and intentional, from the segments titled with sounds to the snippets of dialogue. The language is breathtaking but never overstated. Here the writer describes extracting lemon juice to bleach her skin: I hollow the fruit the way I’ve learnt to excavate parts of myself, scrape murky yellow extract until all that remains is white walls bordering an empty shell. The tug of past and present, old country and new, inspires the writer and grips the reader.”

Second Place: “Peace of Mind” by Kat Davis
Judges’ Notes: “The writer captures the ‘monkey mind’ that so often bedevils anyone trying to meditate. You want to be like your teacher who goes on Buddhist retreats and speaks with a type of intelligence that either comes from decades of trying to articulate emotions like these into words, or parroting hippie articles online where people in the comments section do yoga and drink green tea & pretend to actually like the taste of kombucha. The spiraling prose is not aimless, however; it leads to a touching connection between sisters.”

Third Place: “For Naomi” by Jessica Bakar
Judges’ Notes: “Musing about a pseudonym, the writer describes how creative nonfiction writers work: We are explorers of the self, reverse engineers of emotion. This sophisticated example of ‘thinking on paper’ explores authenticity, friendship, and storytelling truth.“

Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order)

• “Visibility” by Yelaine Aquilar

• “Holding Onto My Mother Tongue” by Sophene Avedissian

• “Destructive Desolation” by Anna Bruner

• “Fight Song” by Sophia Hall

• “Maybe” by Hannah He

• “White House” by Kate-Yeonjae Jeong

• “Glass and Steam” by Quinn Kennedy

• “Growing Pains” by Vivian Liu

• “Under the Dewdrops” by Chiu-yi Rachel Ngai

• “Fire and Ash” by Xiaoya Williams

• “My Father Is an Analogy for God” by Sarai Winkler

• “Korean, American, or Korean-American” by Nicholas Yoo

• “The Butterfly” by Tiffany Zhang

• “Clench” by Lynn Zhao