We are thrilled to announce the three winners in each category—creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry—of the 2019-2020 Young Authors Writing Competition, hosted by the English and Creative Writing Department of Columbia College Chicago! Our judges selected the winning entries...
After a demanding spring, we are delighted to announce the ten finalists in each category—creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry—of the 2019-2020 Young Authors Writing Competition! It was an immense challenge to choose the finalists from hundreds of extraordinary pieces...
Flesh by Grace Wang After the funeral, I begin to dream of hunger: In one dream, Grandmother is butchering a tuna on my wedding day. I walk into her kitchen wearing a red qipao, and she stops filleting the...
The Lost History of You by Jeffrey Liao When the sun rises over the mountains, Addison wakes up to feed the cows. It’s a late summer, heat and dust crumbling in the wrinkles of her palms. The barn creaks...
New Tongue by Nazanin Soghrati You arrive in your new home without even being able to pronounce its name. You know how to spell it – C-A-N-A-D-A – after days of staring at its name scrawled on the yellowed-out...
Impressions on Hair by Emily Tian Animals shed. Garter snakes moult upwards of forty times in a lifespan, their past selves gone white and crepey like pantyhose. Cats leave their hair carelessly where you’d least expect: hidden corridors, bedroom...
Eat Bitter (Sweet) by Kate Li In Chinese, there’s a phrase for undergoing hardship: “Chīkǔ,” or, literally, “eat bitter.” Surprisingly enough, the connotations of “chīkǔ” aren’t negative. When you overcome a great ordeal, for example, people say you know...
Heritage by Jonathan Chen How even stone pillars can crumble. How a family’s hopes blossom into bitter fruit in the sun.How, in a sea of Western colors, you’ll forgetthe one you wore each day.You’ll let go of a placewhere...
I’m Thinking about You by Sarah Brownlee I’m thinking about youLike a fork thinks about a spoon Like the sun thinks about noonLike a werewolf thinks about the moon I’m thinking about youLike my stomach thinks about lunch Like...
