2022 Short Story & Essay Contest
Bethesda Magazine and the Bethesda Urban Partnership sponsor an annual competition for local writers. This year, 128 adults and high school students entered the short story contest, and 130 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, Elliot Wilner, “Letter to an Unfinished Love: About That Night at the Nosheri“
- Second Place: Sharon Nissim, “The Cups“
- Third Place: Jackie Jacobson, “Scarecrow“
- Honorable Mention: Eve Cantler, “The Boatshed at Gibson Lake“
- Honorable Mention: Kristina Saccone, “The Spectrum of Sight“
High School Short Story Contest
- First Place, Cathryn Russ, “Aliya’s Abejorritos“
- Second Place: Angelica Frude, “Lucky Bamboo“
- Third Place: Jonah Witte, “Infestation“
- Honorable Mention: Camryn Crump, “Padma’s Door: A Pandora’s Box Retelling“
- Honorable Mention: Mikayla Bellman, “Home“
- Honorable Mention: Omotola Fadeyi, “The Family Man“
Essay Contest
Adult Essay Contest
- First Place, Dian Seidel, “Fostering Love“
- Second Place: Marla Durben Hirsch, “Volunteer Tomatoes“
- Third Place: Louis Siegel, “Senior Losses“
- Honorable Mention: Emmy Song, “Becoming“
- Honorable Mention: Heather Johnson Reid, “A Tangerine in My Stocking“
- Honorable Mention: Jennifer L. Blanck, “Cutting Through Chaos“
- Honorable Mention: Thu Nguyen, “The Choice to Stay“
High School Essay Contest
- First Place, Ada Fiala, “Apologies“
- Second Place: Ellie Tinsky, “Rattling The Cage“
- Third Place: Allison Xu, “The Last Class“
- Honorable Mention: Phoebe Lewis, “Finding My Identity“
Judges
Meet the judges of this year’s writing competition.
This story appears in the July/August 2022 issue of Bethesda Magazine.