Thank you to everyone who submitted to this year's Spring Literary Festival contests. Winners of the high school competition will be recognized during the YA + Fantasy author event on Tuesday, April 8 at noon. Winners of the WCU contests will be recognized and invited to read from their winning work on Wednesday, April 9 at noon.
Find the winners, runners-up, and finalists below!
Winners of this year's high school competition will receive a cash prize and be recognized at noon on April 8 in the UC Theater, during the Spring Literary Festival.
Winner - "Where I'm From" by Ava Albright (Swain County High School)
Judges' note: The judges were impressed with level of concrete, specific detail in Ava’s poem “Where I’m From,” and by its original ending. “Where I’m From” poems are often taught, but very few are as sensorily vivid as this one, and very few end up questioning the premise of what it means to be “from” somewhere. Ava’s did both.
Runner-up - "Pen or Sword" by Willow Lindsay (Weaver Academy)
Judges' note: The judges found the poet’s multivalent use of “you” intriguing, and loved the saltwater imagery of the marsh. The poem moves from one point to a very different point by a series of associative leaps that are surprising but ultimately feel inevitable.
Finalists
Winner - "Rest in Peace" by Amelia Amadio (William Amos Hough High School)
Judges’ note: "Rest in Peace" is an artful blend of technology, memory, and addiction. In such a short space, readers will find a relatable protagonist, one who is deeply human and who once again reminds us that just because we can do something doesn't necessarily mean we should.
Runner-up - "Bobby Jackson's Perfect Day" by Samuel Debodisco (Middle College of Forsyth County)
Judges' note: “Bobby Jackson’s Perfect Day” is a poignant and darkly humorous exploration of psychological crisis, using the protagonist’s unraveling to examine the exhaustion of modern life, and ultimately suggesting that even in moments of deepest despair, the possibility of hope and human connection can still emerge.
Finalists
Winner - “The 1st Sunlit Day, Ending with Adrianne Lenker's Zombie Girl” by Sophie Houck (Asheville
High School)
Judges’ note: “1st Sunlit Day” feels fresh and inviting. The writer does a great
job bringing us into a seemingly mundane moment and then transforming it into something
more extraordinary through attention to detail. The things they see often don’t “fit,”
like the guy who looks like Santa Claus. It’s surprising in that way. The language
has an infectious energy, like the bright green that slowly climbs the mountains in
spring.
Runner-up - “Sometimes” by Margaret Higginbotham (School of Inquiry and Life Sciences at Asheville)
Judges’ note: In “Sometimes,” the way the author plunges into their emotions and conveys
the intricacies is very well done. It's bold in its poetry—the writer weaves a beautiful
tapestry with their words and takes chances with form. This piece took effort and
risk, and it paid off.
Finalists
Students were invited to write a short story inspired by the painting "Boat Dock" (below). Winners will receive a cash prize, an opportunity for publication, and a chance to read at the 2025 Spring Literary Festival on April 9 at noon.
“Boat Dock” may not be reproduced or published in any other format without the owner’s permission.
1st place - “Between The Cracks” by Avery Luft
Judges' note: Avery Luft’s short story, “Between The Cracks,” is a superb balance of style, place, and characterization. Ellie, the teenage narrator, speaks to us with a voice of hurt, longing, and hope as she tries to navigate her way out of oppressive loneliness. Despite her insecurities, she makes a courageous effort to be accepted at last. What she finds at the boat dock, a place that fascinates her, is a devastating betrayal. She accepts her irrevocable defeat there, and the long-abandoned dock becomes both her solitary refuge and her dead end.
2nd place - “The Ones Who Stay” by Kaylynn Paisley Stiles
Judges' note: Kaylynn Paisley Stiles’ “The Ones Who Stay” is a haunting, lyrical meditation on the difficult choices facing four men in a slowly dying town. The story is narrated by Evan, the one who stays, as he stands alone on a boat dock saying a reluctant goodbye to his brother, his uncle, and his best friend. While Evan understands each man’s reason for leaving, that knowledge does little to relieve the weight of loneliness they leave behind. Nor does it alter his own choice to stay, to try and hold the place together, to be the keeper of its stories.
3rd place - “Jack’s Knob” by Anna Robertson
Judges' note: “Jack’s Knob” by Anna Robertson presents us with a group of friends who are complicated, but still manage to maintain their relationship. Using third person point of view Robertson writes a detailed story that presents the issues between Cecil and his wife, June. With realistic dialogue, the characters come to life on the page. The experience on the boat leads to a life altering decision that Cecil has to make that affects his relationship with his family and friends. The story leaves readers wanting to know more about what happens with Cecil and the rest of the characters.
Finalists
Winners of this year's undergraduate competition will receive a cash prize, publication in Nomad, and a chance to read at this year's Spring Literary Festival on April 9 at noon.
Winner – “The Levity of Construction” by Andrew Baker
Judge Mildred Kiconco Barya’s note: It’s refreshing to read a poem that’s given itself over to pondering fate and perception of the world we’re creating, as well as some of the most pressing questions of our time. But then, “What do I ask if nobody is here to answer?” The speaker begins and quickly plunges into existential puzzlements of life, perhaps not so much to find answers in this dystopia, but, rather, to understand what makes one human; what makes one good. “They told me I was better off alone if I kept bad company. / Now there is no good company left...”
Runner-up – “The Burntshirt of the Oil Gods” by Annah Lael Toms
Judge’s note: In this intensely lyrical and image-rich prose poem, time and place have a toll on the body, that's the female body, that's the landscape, that's inheritance. The past is not really the past, but what lingers in scent or scenery, an “archaic impression” that echoes back through memory “buried in bone.” Through it all, the speaker bears witness to the ravaging face of greed of the Oil Gods.
Winner - “Naomi Fritz” by Lottie Lannigan
Judge Tita Ramirez's note: This story captivated me from its opening lines and kept me reading with its very human voice, its lovely details (Mr. Pinkerton’s dish ears! The paint on Naomi’s fingers in the picture of her sign!), and, frankly, its complicated main character. I’m jealous of how layered the author has managed to make Grace in such a short piece.
Runner-up - “Strength in Gold” by Madeline Snow
Judge's note: What struck me most about this story—in which a girl learns to turn what the world perceives as a weakness into her greatest strength—was the delicious weirdness. Throughout the piece, there were moments of genuine shimmery strangeness (the angel sighting, the feel of the phantom limb…) that took ahold of me in the best way and made me want to keep reading.
Finalists
Winner - "Hard Lessons/Tough Love" by Michael King
Judge Darius Stewart's note: Striking in its psychological and narrative complexity, this essay captures the nuances of intimacy, trauma, and memory with unflinching honesty and literary grace. King’s use of voice, layered imagery, and structural risk creates an unforgettable reading experience that employs daring and devastating prose to navigate the blurred lines of affection, harm, survival, and healing. I’m amazed by how he conjures memory as both haunting and ritual, culminating in an imagined yet still powerful reclamation: “I punch you again and hear the crack of your nose breaking... until your blood stains those sacred stones.” And still, he is able to meet himself in that pain with tenderness: “That’s enough... He did what he did. It’s over now.” This essay is a masterful act of emotional reckoning—devastating, courageous, and beautifully told.
Runner-up - "Glow in the Dark Stars" by Avery Luft
Judge's note: The essay lyrically captures how childhood spaces can provide poignant meditations on memory, identity, and writing as a means of survival. It pulses with longing, reminding us of how the past lives within us and imprints itself onto the walls of our childhood environments. Luft achingly captures the coming-of-age experience in a room filled with ghosts and glowing plastic stars, writing: “So much has changed, yet almost nothing has at the same time. I am fourteen. Or sixteen. Or nineteen... still stuck between the blue lines on a sheet of cheap notebook paper.” This intimate, atmospheric piece is steeped in a nostalgia that quietly bruises.
Finalists
Winners of the grad lit competition will receive a cash prize, publication in Yonder, and a chance to read at the Spring Literary Festival on April 9 at noon.
1st place - “An Analysis of Ancient Scythian Religious Practices; or, A Day in the Life of a Transgender Soothsayer” by Ashbury Haight
Judge Wes Browne'snote: It’s very “of the moment” but that’s not why I picked it. The writing is sharp and it’s engrossing. I came away feeling like I learned about both the author and the world.
2nd place - “Girls” by Nyoka Pierce
Judge's note: A clean and thoughtful poem that I found subtly moving. The language is simple, but the structure elevated it for me.
3rd place - “Eleven” by Nyoka Pierce
Judge's note: Full of small details that pulled me in from the start. Never sags from beginning to end—which is no easy thing. Clever.
Finalists