Congratulations to the Winners of the 2026 Annual Writing Contest
The 2026 Annual Writing Contest received nearly 200 entries across 18 categories including Short NonFiction, Flash Fiction, Poetry, Opening Chapter Unpublished Fiction, Opening Chapter Unpublished NonFiction, Short Fiction, and Short Screenplay.
SouthWest Writers (SWW) encourages aspiring and experienced writers of all cultures and backgrounds to enter. We welcome a diversity of creative expressions and points of view. Writers did not have to be a member of SWW or live in the Southwest to enter.
Most winning entries are included in SWW’s contest anthology By Human Hands: SouthWest Writers Anthology of Contest Winners 2026.
Contest winners are listed below by category and place standing. The number of winners in each category was determined by the Writing Contest Committee according to established criteria.
Short Nonfiction
Article/Essay
1st Place: “Are Human Hands Important?” by Leonie Rosenstiel
2nd Place: “An Unscheduled Challenge: Post-Traumatic Stress” by Jim Tritten
3rd Place: “The Playroom Closet” by Sarah Kotchian
Memoir
1st Place: “(Out) On the Front Porch” by Miranda Gil
2nd Place: “Break Out the Shotguns” by Jim Tritten
3rd Place: “Gifts of the Acequia” by Linnea Hendrickson
Prose Flash Fiction
1st Place: “Banzai Buddies” by Rose Marie Kern
2nd Place: “Life and Death: Crowdsourced” by Joshua Colenda
3rd Place: “A Brief Encounter” by Mark Fleisher
Poetry
Free Verse
1st Place Tie: “Three Wise Women” by Nancy Schrock
1st Place Tie: “Gods of Santa Fe” by Wendy Stein
3rd Place: “Mainspring” by Charles Garcia
Haiku
1st Place: Kathleen Holmes
2nd Place: Kathleen Holmes
3rd Place: Kathleen Holmes
Limerick
1st Place: “Asp-irations” by Mark Fleisher
2nd Place: “Bullet-spoof” by Shen LaSarten
3rd Place: “New in New Jersey” by Mark Fleisher
Opening Chapter Unpublished Fiction
General Fiction
1st Place: “The Bootleggers” by Robert Leger
2nd Place: “The Fort Johnson Maid” by Frances Dupont
3rd Place: “Sarah Sherman’s Fortune — A Novel of the Gold Rush” by Richard C McPherson
Mystery/Crime/Thriller
1st Place: “Mrs. Tanglewood’s Collection” by Judy Castleberry
2nd Place: “Operation Indigo Blue” by Dita Dow
3rd Place: “The Creation Syntax” by Bonnie Adams
Speculative Fiction
1st Place: “The Sorcerer’s Daughter” by Dita Dow
2nd Place: “Moon Story” by Jill Bailey
3rd Place: “Firestorm Saga” by Jack Yerby
Opening Chapter Unpublished NonFiction
General NonFiction
2nd Place: “Navies and Military Doctrine” by Jim Tritten
3rd Place: “Chapter 1 — Wolf Count” by Paula Nixon
Memoir
1st Place: “Journaling My Return to Cello” by Virginia Ewing Hudson
2nd Place: “The Boy Who Would Not Burn” by Kevin Getchell
3rd Place: “A Call to Stand Up: Part Memoir, Part History, Part Exhortation” by Sherri Burr
Short Fiction
General Fiction
1st Place: “Wildlife at Saint Marks, 2019” by Robert Temple
2nd Place: “Climbing Mount Everest” by Roger Floyd
3rd Place: “The Cabin” by Dita Dow
Mystery/Crime/Thriller
1st Place: “Ladies of the Club” by Judy Castleberry
2nd Place: “American Gothic” by Sean Fitting
3rd Place: “Cleaver” by Patricia Acri
Science Fiction/Fantasy
1st Place: “Absent the Others” by Nancy Schrock
2nd Place: “The Last Dragon Slayer” by Mary Therese Ellingwood
3rd Place: “The Typographic Team” by Chris Allen
Speculative/Horror/Paranormal/Etc.
1st Place: “Red Cells” by Joseph Mangles
2nd Place: “The Prophet” by Dita Dow
3rd Place: “The Other Side of the Wall” by Kathrine Susan Eads
Young Adult
2nd Place: “The Snake Pit” by Mary Therese Ellingwood
3rd Place: “Finder’s Keepers” by Rose Marie Kern
Young Reader/Middle Grade
2nd Place: “Just Listen!” by Rose Marie Kern
3rd Place: “Bringing Home the Bacon” by Mary Therese Ellingwood
Short Screenplay
1st Place: “Light Through Water” by Herman Johansen
2nd Place: “Waiting Games” by Anna Riley-Pate
3rd Place: “The King” by Joshua Colenda