Congratulations to the Finalists of the 2026 Annual Writing Contest!
After months of judging, it’s here, the moment you have been waiting for. The announcement of finalists for the SouthWest Writers Annual Writing Contest! This year’s writing contest theme is By Human Hands! The contest brought a myriad of stories in a myriad of forms: poetry, opening chapter, short story, and memoir. Some categories had dozens of entries, others had a scant few.
Below is a list of all the winning finalists. To find out which categories and for which entry they have won, you will have to attend the annual meeting on Saturday, October 10, 2026. Join us in person at UNM Continuing Education or via Zoom*. See you there.
Finalists:
Bonnie Adams
Chris Allen
Jill Bailey
Sherri Burr
Judy Castleberry
Joshua Colenda
Dita Dow
Frances Dupont
Kathrine Susan Eads
Mary Therese Ellingwood
Sean Fitting
Mark Fleisher
Roger Floyd
Charles Garcia
Kevin Getchell
Miranda Gil
Linnea Hendrickson
Virginia Ewing Hudson
Herman Johansen
Rose Marie Kern
Sarah Kotchian
Robert Leger
Shen LaSarten
Joseph Mangles
Richard C McPherson
Paula Nixon
Anna Riley-Pate
Leonie Rosensteil
Nancy Schrock
Wendy Stein
Robert Temple
Jim Tritten
Jack Yerby
*To join us on Zoom: SWW Members sign into the Members Only portion of the website and click on the Zoom Sign-In link in the Members Portal. To receive a link to the meeting, non-members are required to contact our office (505-830-6034 or info@swwriters.com) or sign up for Elerts.