Creative Writing Competitions
In the leadup to the Spring Literary Festival each year, the department of English Studies hosts several creative writing competitions for high school, undergraduate and graduate writers. Winners receive cash prizes and are recognized during the festival. Read about this year's finalists, runners-up and winners below!
2026 Contest Results
Poetry
Fiction
Nonfiction
Poetry
Judged by
Winner: 鈥淥ff the Side of I-40鈥� by Breanna Stewart
Judge's note: In its ecocritical observation, this poem reveals great attention to things we pass habitually and unremarkably by. The eye of this poem is looking so closely at our mess, we鈥檙e able to make out shapes in a pupil鈥檚 reflection and catch the once alive animals, now ghosts, 鈥渃owering in their / considerable viscera.鈥� There is also some lovely soundwork happening in this poem.
Runner-up: 鈥淣on Sequitur鈥� by Kaylee Ren茅e
Judge's note: This is a poem full of surprises. I am never bored inside this little room. I love the fearless choices the poet makes and the unexpected turns of the lines.
Poetry Finalists
鈥淏ear food鈥� by Andrew Baker
鈥淎nthropophagy, Vampirism, or Eat and You Will Be Saved鈥� by Andrew Baker
鈥渢he flowers in the kitchen鈥� by Rachel Barron
鈥淥ink Oink鈥� by Austin Knepper
鈥淐atch and Release鈥� by Willow Lindsay
鈥淐annibal Animal鈥� by Elizabeth Scruggs
Prize in Fiction
Judged by
Winner: 鈥淎nother Dead Deer鈥� by Ari Pohl
Judge's note: This is a dense, beautifully layered, powerful story鈥攍ike a long poem in that it takes a few readings to fully appreciate. I love how Con鈥檚 trip back home to visit his sick mother already feels daunting to him but having to drag his roommate Keenan along has made matters worse. I love how the disturbing flashbacks with Uncle James are woven into the present with Con and Keenan hunting in the woods and how the rising tension between Con鈥檚 past and his present ultimately delivers us to the story鈥檚 devastating ending.
Runner-up: 鈥淲hen Aliens Turn the Ocean Red鈥� by Clare Wehner
Judge's note: An intriguing and moving story told from the point of view of an unreliable narrator, a teenage girl, who turns out to be reliable in her own way. The story revolves around the narrator鈥檚 sisterly relationship with an older neighbor boy, more of a brother to her. I liked a lot about this story, but I really liked how both characters seemed to be trying on different versions of the truth and how the reader is never quite sure what to trust and yet behind it all is genuine loss.鈥� contest judge, Tommy Hays
Fiction Finalists
鈥淭he Man Who Dined with Foxes鈥� by Rachel Barron
鈥淒rywood鈥� by Finley Dunn
鈥淔odder鈥檚 Knife鈥� by Lily Jones
鈥淥ink鈥� by AK Kern
Nonfiction
Judged by
Winner: 鈥淥ctober and Then Some鈥� by Lottie Lannigan
Judge's note: 鈥淥ctober and Then Some,鈥� is a love letter to a place struck by a cataclysm, but before that, organized abandonment. This is a true love letter in that it feels written by someone both exalted and decimated by that love; someone capable of appreciating both scars and loveliness; someone able to encounter the sacred among its quarries, its shipping containers, and its people.
Runner-up: 鈥淪hapeshifters鈥� by Anthony Dilbeck
Judge's note: 鈥淪hapeshifters,鈥� is a lovely portrayal of becoming. We are brought into the quietly powerful moments of a person鈥檚 self-determination. It roars with a whisper because it brings us close enough to speak its truth into our ear. 鈥� contest judge, Jos茅 Ordu帽a
Nonfiction Finalists
鈥淪econd Skin鈥� by Avery Luft
鈥淪hame Spiral鈥� by Blake Murdock
鈥淭he Chicken Yard Rulebook鈥� by Deo Shelton
鈥淐ountry Rat in the Cityhouse鈥� by Makayla S Williams
Judged by
1st - "A Freedom Legacy," by Ky Walker
Judge's note: A hauntingly beautiful piece with a near-mythic quality, detailing the intergenerational struggles of a family seeking a place to call home.
2nd - "We Should Print T-shirts: Reflections on a North Carolina Social Work Advocacy Day," by Maddy Rojas
Judge's note: A candid and stirring firsthand account of the democratic process that highlights its promise while not shying away from its shortcomings.
3rd - "Asbestos Was Acclaimed as an Excellent Fire Retardant. It Also Causes Cancer," by Remy Cox
Judge's note: A poem about grief and loss that gestures toward hard-won hope and renewal in the aftermath of tragedy.
Finalists:
Ashbury Haight, "Woodrat"
Jo Norwood, "Between Us"
Michelle Dyer, "Grief"
Andy Coe, "The Beekeeper"
*Zackary Vernon
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