Creative Writing 

In the world’s oldest fossil forest, a girl becomes the youngest-ever paleontologist, hunting for dinosaur bones on a family hike.

  • This 50-word story landed in the 2024 Winner’s Circle of award-winning author Vivian Kirkfield’s international #50PreciousWords contest.

Anxious student athlete Vita and her best friend struggle to complete their bucket list and keep their connection strong when Vita is taken to an off-the-grid sleepaway camp.

  • This MG manuscript was selected for a spot in the 2023 program.

  • The first five pages of this manuscript were workshopped by authors, peers, and a literary agent in the 2022 program.

When awkward wallflower Lea becomes a teen assassin, her first crush—the school’s star athlete—becomes her first target.

  • This YA short story closed out the 2015 issue of The Mercury.

A young boy faces an uphill battle to protect his family’s reputation when his alcoholic father leaves them penniless.

  • In 2015, vignettes from this work of historical fiction won The Mercury Fiction Prize, in addition to being published in the 2015 issue.

  • Selected vignettes received one of the 2015 Stephen Crane Fiction Prizes.

A girl struggles to find the final flower for her herbarium in time to complete a gift for her mother’s homecoming.

  • In the 2025 contest, this entry received an honorable mention in the “Beautifully Written” category.