We’re excited to share the top three winners in our Young Authors contest, as selected by our faculty here at Columbia College Chicago. As always, this was a highly competitive year with great entries from all over the world. We’re glad to give some extra attention and praise to these standout writers.

In Nonfiction:

First place: Rachel Litchman, “Reflections on Trauma over an X-axis”
Second place: Joonho Jo, “A Blind Model”
Third place: Kathryn Hargett, “Misfire”

In Poetry:

First place: Heather Yenna Kim, “Every Place Is Empty until We Leave It”
Second place: Farah Ghafoor, “Home, Oven”
Third place: Masfi Khan, “Heirloom”

In Fiction:

First place: Jacqueline He, “House of God”
Second place: Ella Lerner, “Magic”
Third place: Michelle Chen, “The Semester of Fading”

Congratulations to these winners and to all the young authors. Happy writing!