2022

A huge thank you to everyone who submitted to our 2022 Writing Contest. Each poetry and prose piece was breathtaking and we’re honored to have read your work. To narrow down a pool of over 1,500 pieces to just 20 was an immensely difficult job, so we extend our sincerest appreciation to our staff editors, guest readers, and judges for their dedication. Learn more about our judges and editors.

Shoutout to judges Luther Hughes and Elaine Hsieh Chou; EIC Jessica Kim and editors Dhwanee Goyal (poetry), Rebecca Choe (poetry), Olaitan Humble (poetry), Miye Sugino (prose), Emily Frost (prose); and guest readers Joyce Liu, Laura Ma, Salam Wosu, Dana Blatte, Jaiden Thompson, Abigail Chang, and Jules Chung!

Without further ado, we’re more than thrilled to announce our winners and finalists!

POETRY

WINNER: Maria Gray, “Rhythm 0”

As a nod towards Marina Abramović’s performative piece, “Rhythm 0,” this poem operates similarly, whereas I, the reader, am given a vulnerable object, the speaker, who is wrestling with the nature of selfhood, virtue, and the acceptance of their physical body. The desperation of the speaker to understand exactly who they are in the context of what they are given–how one is supposed to live–is almost shocking. The poem strains; the poem enacts a beginning and an end.

FIRST RUNNER-UP: Kaylee Young-Eun Jeong, “Second Date”

“What is love?” is what this poem is asking. And it’s a beautiful question complimented by a wonderful poem. This poem exquisitely takes us through a life of someone who has loved, has lost, and is continually trying to understand what it means to love someone. The poem is funny. It’s sad. It’s heartwarming. It’s a life.

SECOND RUNNER-UP: Cassandra Whitaker, “American Bodies”

Meditating on “bodies,” this poem questions Americanness in ways that are familiar yet exciting. As the poem moves from “body” to “body,” we learn new ways in thinking of our own body within the context of statehood, rights, and physical appearance. The speaker pushes and then eventually concedes; they know they cannot win.

FINALISTS:
Bill Hollands, “ICYMI: One-Sentence Summaries of My Recent Poems”
Daniel Zhang, “American Skies are Silver”
Sarah Yang, “After Life”
Carolyn Oliver, “Watertown”
Nova Wang, “Self-Portrait as Metal, Decaying”
Michael Imossan, “The road arrived in ashes”
Brooke Nind, “The World Might Change If We Run”

PROSE

WINNER: Adrian S. Potter, “Identity Theories”

“Identity Theories” absolutely buzzes with life. The words jump off the page, rhythmic, inventive and wryly knowing, stitching together a multi-faceted character who I won’t soon forget. The story is both blade sharp and softly tender, unafraid to ask what it takes to survive in this world while wearing multiple selves.

FIRST RUNNER-UP: Ai Li Feng, “mother tongue”

Gorgeously poetic and evocative, “Mother Tongue” paints a vivid portrait of generations of women. Set in a small town that feels suspended in time, the story brims with hunger, displacement and an unnameable grief.

SECOND RUNNER-UP: Devaki Devay, “Ayurvedic Puberty”

In strikingly visceral images and language, “Ayurvedic Puberty” transforms the body into a site of mythical and primal possibility. Against the backdrop of diasporic hopes and disappointments, the personal tangles with the familial. 

FINALISTS:
Matt Hsu, “Writing Myanmar”
Ainhoa Palacios, “Emilio Alarcon Loved Pancakes”
Lindy Biller, “A History of Running”
Helen Chen, “Silver Moon Praises”
Amy Wang, “Ama”
Sandra Lin, “The Letter She’ll Never Read”
Nine Reed-Mera, “Wishbone Remix”

Blurbs for the winning pieces by our judges Luther Hughes (poetry) and Elaine Hsieh Chou (prose).

2021

POETRY

Winner: Sean Cho Ayres, “if you still want to talk”

Finalists:
Wen Lim, “Fish/borne”
Christian Butterfield, “lullaby”
Njoku Nonso, “Common Ground”
Stephanie Chang, “Rafflesia”
Gillian Moore, “no missed calls”
Joan Kwon Glass, “Agnostic as a Young Girl”
Kara Knickerbocker, “Rewriting the Suicide Note”

PROSE

Winner: Avalon Felice Lee, “Virgin, Punctuation”

Finalists:
Tracy Haught, “Puking by the Sea: An Ode to Slim and a Bic Pen”
May Hathaway, “Meritocracy”
Yuliia Vereta, “Power Outage”
Timi Sanni, “Wahala for the Good Boy”
Meg Mahoney, “Mother, May I?”
Sophie Kearing, “Exquisite Creature”
Alyssa Jordan, “Like Déjà Vu”