Winners
Congratulations to all the winners of the Young Authors Writing Competition. We’ve received thousands of submissions from all over the world, and are thrilled to recognize these rising talents. Read some of the selections below!
2021 Young Authors Winners
POETRY
First place: “Ghazal for K” by Jessica Kim
Second place: “Reincarnation” by Anjali Pajjuri
Third place: “Life Raft/Casket” by Angela Wei
FICTION
First place: “Green Gables” by Erin Kim
Second place: “Love of my Life” by Romola Cavet
Third place: “The Boy with the Red Bicycle” by Ashley Theilacker
NONFICTION
First place: “Sticky Notes on the Lennon Wall” by Faith Tsang
Second place: “NeveRland” by Robert Socas
Third place: “Thirteen” by Sabrina Huang
2020 Young Authors Winners
POETRY
First place: “El Tercer Oído (The Third Ear)” by Sofia Angulo-Lopera
Second place: “Firing Clay” by Jenny Oh
Third place: “Three Poems” by Annie Cao
FICTION
First place: “Valley of Saints” by Yasmeen Khan
Second place: “One Child” by Hannah Han
Third place: “New Year” by Alexis Yang
NONFICTION
First place: “Under the Same Sun” by Hannah Ahdab
Second place: “Turmeric Stains” by Priyanka Shrestha
Third place: “We Do Not Apologize Now” by Jordan Ferdman
2019 Young Authors Winners
POETRY
First place: “Heritage” by Jonathan Chen
Second place: “Charlie” by Remi Seamon
Third place: “I’m Thinking About You” by Sarah Brownlee
FICTION
First place: “Flesh” by Grace Wang
Second place: “The Lost History of You” by Jeffrey Liao
Third place: “New Tongue” by Nazanin Soghrati
NONFICTION
First place: “Impressions on Hair” by Emily Tian
Second place: “Eat Bitter Sweet” by Kate Li
Third place: “FOMO” by Taylor Fang
2018 Young Authors Winners
POETRY
First place: “Self Portrait as Carolina” by Aidan Forster
Second place: “sunlight through the honey jar” by Savannah Bradley
Third place: “5 a.m. by the railroad tracks” by Linda Ye
FICTION
First place: “My Goddamn Pink House” by Kaya Dierks
Second place: “To Let out the Sun” by Kaylee Jeong
Third place: “Zelda” by Abigail Coulter
NONFICTION
First place: “Instructions for Suburban Boy Love” by Aidan Forster
Second place: “of honey and spice” by Arushi Avachat
Third place: “Talk to Me” by Ingrid Ren
2017 Young Authors Winners
POETRY
1st. Heather Yenna Kim, “Every Place Is Empty until We Leave It”
2nd. Farah Ghafoor, “Home, Oven”
3rd. Masfi Khan, “Heirloom”
FICTION
1st: Jacqueline He, “House of God”
2nd: Ella Lerner, “Magic”
3rd: Michelle Chen, “The Semester of Fading”
NONFICTION
1st: Rachel Litchman, “Reflections on Trauma over an X-axis”
2nd: Joonho Jo, “A Blind Model”
3rd: Kathryn Hargett, “Misfire”
2016 Young Authors Winners
POETRY
1st. Jessica Li, “Wood”
2nd. Kateri David, “Song for Drowned Streets”
3rd. Devanshi Khetarpal, “Lullaby”
FICTION
1st: Lily Zhou, “Beijing, Beijing”
2nd: Marwah Shuaib, “Desert Girl”
3rd: Madison Dorsey, “The Art of Gardening”
NONFICTION
1st: Yasmine Sajid, “Six and Sixty”
2nd: Alayna Pruitt, “Defining Water”
3rd: Ruohan Miao, “Hunger”
2015 Young Authors Winners
POETRY
1st. Ariana Zhao, Untitled
2nd. Sophya Giudici-Juarez, “The Land of the Forgotten”
3rd. Cypress Oliphant, “Lizard”
FICTION
1st: Oriana Tang, “Lara”
2nd: Andriane Tharp, “The Valiant Hibernation of Cameron Milksop”
3rd: Jordyn McMillin, “Dolly”
NONFICTION
1st: Meilan Steimle, “Differentiating Equations”
2nd: Siqi Liu, “Reflect and Make Level”
3rd: Emma Kane, “The Machine”
2014 Young Authors Winners
POETRY
1st: “Mahlab” by Talin Tahajian
2nd: “Romances” by Steven Adams
3rd: “Wisdom” by Catherine Valdez
FICTION
1st: “This is What I Know” by Michal Leibowitz
2nd: “Premonition” by Christina Qiu
3rd: “At the Hands of Jezebel” by Adriane Tharp
CREATIVE NONFICTION
1st: “Moro Reflex” by Adriane Tharp
2nd: “Lychee” by Oriana Tang
3rd: “It All Comes Down to This” by Charlotte Lee