Illustration by David Owens.
Bethesda Magazine and the Bethesda Urban Partnership sponsor an annual writing competition for local writers. This year, 132 adults and 73 high school students entered the short story contest, and 170 adults and 63 high school students entered the essay contest. The writers who placed in the contests were awarded cash prizes ranging from $25 to $500 at the Local Writer’s Showcase in April.
Short Story
Adult Short Story
- First Place, Lindsay Moore, “Find the Wound”
- Second Place, Maria Karametou, “The First Few American Moons“
- Third Place, Keith R. Fentonmiller, “The Ark”
- Honorable Mention, Anita K. Lampel,”The Force of the Storm”
- Honorable Mention, Carol Solomon, “Sheara’s Beautiful People”
- Honorable Mention, Gary Thompson, “Paw Paw”
High School Short Story
- First Place, Elinor Berger, “Now I am Become Death”
- Second Place, Makenna Beam, “Skating Away”
- Third Place, Kathryn von Heeringen, “Mother Helped Me Find My Voice”
- Honorable Mention, Sophia Lynch, “What Love Looks Like”
- Honorable Mention, Alice Murphy, “Upon a Knoll; Weedy and Wild”
- Honorable Mention, Avery W. Todd, “The Way Things Are”
Essay
Adult Essay
- First Place, Sherrell T. Lam, “A Change of Heart”
- Second Place, Carol Solomon, “Driving Aunt Dellie”
- Third Place, Caroline Bock, “Buttons”
- Honorable Mention, Monica Judge, “Stunned Bird”
- Honorable Mention, Irene Hoge Smith, “Resignations, Regrets and an Offer: A Memoir in Personnel Actions”
- Honorable Mention, Adam Zimmerman, “Time”
High School Essay
- First Place, Olivia Choi, “Like Mother, Like Daughter”
- Second Place, Cindy Song, “Navigating the Night”
- Third Place, Benjamin Friedman, “An Intimate Alliance”
- Honorable Mention, Lara McMurray, “Dear Istanbul”
- Honorable Mention, Benjamin Mather, “Keeping Track of My Time”
- Honorable Mention, Aneesha Mishra, “Alienated”
Judges
Meet the judges of this year’s writing competition.