We’re thrilled to announce the winners of the 2016 Young Authors Competition. Selected from over 1100 submissions, the winners impressed our judges with their unique voices, raw talent, and refined use of language. Congratulations, everyone!

Check back soon to read some of our winning entries, and be on the lookout for next year’s submission dates!

Poetry finalists:

(First place) Jessica Li, “Wood”

(Second place) Kateri David, “Song for Drowned Streets”

(Third place) Devanshi Khetarpal, “Lullaby”

Michelle Chen, “November”

Helli Fang, “Ars Poetica”

Kara Jackson, “Blood”

Lizzy Lemieux, “Matryoshka”

Ruohan Miao, “Maps”

Erin O’Malley, “Reflections of Selves”

Kendall Allen, “Stutter”

 

Fiction finalists:

(First place) Lily Zhou, “Beijing, Beijing”

(Second place) Marwah Shuaib, “Desert Girl”

(Third place) Madison Dorsey, “The Art of Gardening”

Amaris Anderson, “Losing Jane,”

Wyatt Goeks, “The Drake Equation”

Allison Neggers, “A Penny for Your Dreams”

Claudia Patterson, “Lips Like Tangerine”

Jessica Li, “Waitlisted”

Meghana Mysore, “Sketches and Skeletons”

Devon Wood-Thomas, “Renaissance of the Rivers”

 

Nonfiction Finalists

(First place) Yasmine Sajid, “Six and Sixty”

(Second place) Alayna Pruitt, “Defining Water”

(Third place) Ruohan Miao, “Hunger”

Hacer Akcan, “Pavement”

Jessica Li, “Motherland”

Emily Amin, “Snake Charmed”

Spacer Dalzell, “Everything Will Be Alright in the End”

Annie Zaher, “How Things Fell Apart”

Isabella Valdez, “Michael”

Marwah Shuaib, “Karachi”