Creative Nonfiction Competition 2023 Winners Announced!

From a community Supper Club to a difficult relationship with an absent father, our Creative Nonfiction Competition saw writers explore formative moments and memories through storytelling. "This was a hard decision to make!" said Guest Judge Sy Montgomery. "My compliments to all the finalists for their creativity and for sharing their deeply personal stories."

Read on to discover the winners and finalists, along with Sy Montgomery’s commentary.

WINNER:

'The Supper Club' by Nausicaa Chu (US)

Read Nausicaa's winning entry, or log in/sign up to read the piece on our site (for writers aged 13-19)!

Though all finalists wrote superb essays, I was especially enchanted with “The Supper Club” by Nausicaa Chu. The author had me with the first sentence: how can you not want to read on when an essay begins “The man with the flamethrower is in the house”? This short piece is full of surprises. The essay’s point of view—looking at the writer's own family as would a stranger—welcomes readers as fellow guests at the Supper Club. Still, as strangers, we would pose the very same questions as posed here. To our delight, Nausicaa answers our questions with wit and affection, and makes each scene come alive with vivid, sensory details. We can feel the cold cans of soda against the skin of the writer’s arms as they carry them to the table where they place the chopsticks and cutlery. We smell the duck roasting. We listen in on the conversations in well-reported dialogue. The piece continued to enthrall and surprise all the way to its bittersweet ending. I am grateful to have been welcomed into the rich world of an Asian family in Birmingham, Alabama—a place I never expected to find it.

RUNNER-UP:

'A Beloved Tradition and a Father I Never Knew' by Elena Zhang (US)

Read Elena's entry, or log in/sign up to read the piece on our site (for writers aged 13-19)!

“A Beloved Tradition and a Father I Never Knew” perfectly captures the feelings of childhood. Even though the specific experiences that the author writes about may be unfamiliar to most readers, we completely understand and relate to young Elena’s experiences. She makes us feel the hard coin in the soft dumplings in her mouth, the melting ice cream dripping down her hand—and these sensory details help us, too, feel her longing and her love, even as she wipes away the saliva her dad’s kiss leaves on her cheek, and even as this deeply flawed man breaks her heart over and over. And I love the ending. It affirms anew the power of a family’s traditions, reminding us that life still brings us hope—even if it’s only the wish that comes with a coin in a dumpling.

BEST PEER REVIEW (selected by Write the World):

'Menstruation, Princess of Misery and Pain', reviewed by Iffah (United Arab Emirates)

Log in/sign up to see the winning peer review on our site (for writers aged 13-19)!

Iffah has performed a phenomenal close read of Spam I Am's piece "Menstruation, Princess of Misery and Pain." On top of providing specific praise in both the annotations and comment boxes, Iffah shared their interpretations of some of the writer's word choices. It's really a special thing for a writer when a reader ponders their piece's subtle connections and the use of literary techniques like allusions and connotations. That close reading is what we do with the greats, after all! The reviewer also did a great job using questions to guide the writer towards expanding the piece in a subsequent draft. Nice work, Iffah!