2026 Winners and Finalists

1st Place

My father used to tell me the story of the ocean and how it came to be. It was befallen in the...

When I was in 4th grade, my father took me to a protest against the war in Afghanistan. I remember...

My head rests against the car window, motion of the highway rattling my teeth in my small skull. I...

Mason pulled two beers from the six-pack on the workbench, tossing one to Woodrat and keeping the...

The first time I kissed you, I knew you had been a shepherdess in some ancient and faraway land....

The lake hadn’t changed much, not really at least. The same smell of mud and honeysuckle, the same...

In the morning mirror stares back at you like the moon: sunken basalt cheeks, lips ashen, a...