ISSUE 158
CONTEST
WINNERS
John Steinbeck Award for Fiction
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Lane Davey is a messy writer, mediocre barista, and semi-recent SJSU undergraduate alumnus. She enjoys swimming, making and looking at good art and bad art, and creatures. Yesterday he conjured a frankly ridiculous peanut butter and curry ramen broth from an Instagram recipe; his housemates agreed that it was awesome.
Gabriele Rico Challenge for Nonfiction
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Kathryn Trueblood has been awarded the Goldenberg Prize for Fiction and the Red Hen Press Short Story Award. She has just finished a memoir in essays, Death Fever. Her most recent novel, Take Daily As Needed, treats parenting while chronically ill with desperado humor. Trueblood’s previous novel, The Baby Lottery, was a Book Sense Pick in 2007.
Edwin Markham Prize for Poetry
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Elliot Magdalena Lloyd is a lifelong reader and writer of poetry. Previously unpublished, Elliot is a naturalist, tenor, and lover of animals and people. They live in San Francisco and are heartened and inspired by the role of poetry in liberatory movements.
Mary Blair Award for
Art
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Pablo Cruz-Ayala (he/him), a Mexican-born, Utah-raised artist and immigrant advocate explores migration’s impact on cultural identity through urban and Chicano-inspired materials. His work weaves resilience and folklore, reflecting undocumented experiences in Utah. Engaging art and biomedical research, Pablo redefines narratives of displacement, belonging, and adaptation with poignant storytelling and community focus.
Emerging Voices Contest
Crystal Zhu (she/her) is a junior at Lynbrook High School in San Jose, California. She enjoys writing prose and eating food at the same time. Recently, she has been exploring the form of poetry. In her free time, she doodles on random surfaces.​
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