2020 Short Story & Essay Contest
Bethesda Magazine and the Bethesda Urban Partnership sponsor an annual writing competition for local writers. This year, 179 adults and high school students entered the short story contest, and 174 adults and high school students entered the essay contest. The writers who placed in the contests were awarded cash prizes ranging from $25 to $500.
Short Story Contest
Adult Short Story Contest
- First Place, Emily Ray, “The Kids Are All Right“
- Second Place: Devin Lucas, “Grandmother and a Broken Tree“
- Third Place: Julia Tagliere, “Beautiful Waves“
- Honorable Mention: John Hardison, “The Teddy Bear Dance“
- Honorable Mention: Kaldun Nossuli, “Tabbouleh“
- Honorable Mention: Natalie Edmonds, “The Fisherman’s Daughter“
- Honorable Mention: Doug Wilkinson, “Beyond Forgiving“
High School Short Story Contest
- First Place, Elliott Wagner-Smith, “A Chance for Better Weather“
- Second Place: Jonah Witte, “The Chip“
- Third Place: Naomi Louie, “Porcelain“
- Honorable Mention: Tyson Fang, “Freedom With Loss“
Essay Contest
Adult Essay Contest
- First Place, Alicia Klaffky, “Day Moon“
- Second Place: Daien Guo, “Chamber Music“
- Third Place: Daniel Kinney-Spears, “Bridging the Gap“
- Honorable Mention: Beth Kanter, “In Sight“
- Honorable Mention: Rebekah Jacobs, “Encampment“
- Honorable Mention: Robert Karn, “Left Their Lights On“
- Honorable Mention: Julia Tagliere, “We Are Only Curators After All“
High School Essay Contest
- First Place, Natalie Marti, “Into The Flames“
- Second Place: Caroline Vining, “If I Had an Extra Hour“
- Third Place: Aneesha Mishra, “How a Sentence Changes a Life“
- Honorable Mention: Tara Davoodi, “The Skin I Live In“
- Honorable Mention: Andrew Lichtblau, “Constants“
- Honorable Mention: Cate Schultz, “Hopeful Memories“
Judges
Meet the judges of this year’s writing competition.
