2025 Winners

NOVEL

Winner
Throwing a Butterfly into your Neighbor’s Mailbox: The Pilar Medina Story
Ben Orlando
Arlington, VA

Honorable Mention
Eva’s Secret
Michael Fryd
Philadelphia, PA

SHORT STORY

First Place
Quietly, In the Dark
George Kehoe
Oxford, MS

Second Place
My Nephew, My Vacuous Nephew
Anna Wang
La Jolla, CA

Third Place
Neither Comedy or Tragedy
Elizabeth Weinstein
Tully, NY

Honorable Mention
The Atonements
Richard Leslie Brock
Indio, CA

Honorable Mention
Two is Company
August J. Esquire
Quebec, Canada

Honorable Mention
What’s for Dinner?
Allia Zobel Nolan
Norwalk, CT

POETRY

First Place
The Empty Chair
Joseph Kent
Etta, MS

Second Place
The Garden
Jon Ross Myers
Ripley, MS

Third Place
These Hands
Jacquelyn Cynkar
Pittsburg, PA

Honorable Mention
Forbidden Fruit
Howard Brown
Lookout Mountain, TN

Honorable Mention
Is My Mama Dead
Sue Jensen
Salt Lake City, Utah

Honorable Mention
My Wife
Joseph Kent
Etta, MS

ONE ACT PLAY

First Place
Out of the Woods
Robert Weibezahl
Westlake Village, CA

Second Place
Mimosa
Jediah Craig
Berkeley, CA

Third Place
Drag Me Away
Chuck Rybak
Green Bay, WI

Honorable Mention
There’s Always Tomorrow
Sonya Hayden
New York, NY

STUDENT SHORT STORY

First Place
Three Things
Kierstyn Warner
Natchez, MS
Mississippi School of the Arts

4TH GRADE EXCEL
POETRY WORKSHOP WINNERS

1ST PLACE
Annie Covington

2ND PLACE
River Farrell

3RD PLACE
Mary Clayton Muncie

5th GRADE EXCEL
Poetry Workshop Winners

1st Place
Mac Stanton

2nd Place
Kaitlyn Kennedy

3rd Place
Coleson Dodd