Winning Work

Read "Keloid," our third-place finalist: a story about what we can still do when there is nothing else to be done.

Our second-place finalist is an intimate poem that explores the wounds of war that never truly heal before being opened again.

Our History Repeating finalist, "Patch Notes for the End of the World," is a hybrid piece that uses software patch notes to catalogue generational trauma—and how the cycle is broken.

"Countdown" follows the last few days of an astronaut’s time on Earth before attempting to save the world.

"Shine Early, Spring Salmon" is as reflective as it is somber, illustrating what we've lost while "The invaders are at the gates."

Our Silent Spring finalist, "Caddis,” navigates the way our natural world is tightly woven together—and what happens when it frays.

An erasure of the letter hundreds of trans Kansas residents received in March 2026, nullifying their driver’s licenses overnight.

"Body Count" is a poem that is both cognizant and defiantly blunt about violence as a means of erasure.

Our Redacted finalist, “Slumber party,” uses the burning haibun form to explore meaning-making, truth, and autonomy.