Awards & Recognition
Top Rated Stories and Contest Award Winners
Awards & Recognition
"I'd describe his writing as twisted whimsy. It's an upgrade from the stories about shoes that worked in a shoelace factory. Also, his spelling is much better."
- M. Krueger, Co-Author of The Puble Shoe, 3rd Grade Writing
WINNER: Maps of Self Challenge
Vocal Top Story October 2025
Challenge Parameters: Write a personal essay, memoir, or reflective piece that creates a map of something intangible.
Creative non-fiction.
WINNER: Haunted Echoes Challenge
Challenge Parameters: Write a spooky or eerie haiku that distills fear or mystery into just three lines.
Haiku
First Runner Up: Absurdist Awakening Challenge
Challenge Parameters: Craft a surreal absurdist tale in which a routine event escalates into an outrageously comical adventure.
Fictional Bizarre
First Runner Up: Future Fragments Challenge
Challenge Parameters: write a story set in 2050 that explores hope, innovation, or an unexpcted future.
Fictional SciFi
Runner Up: Everyone is Acting Normal Challenge
Challenge Parameters: Write a story in which something is clearly wrong but all characters behave as if everything is normal.
Runner Up: Craft Over Catharsis
Vocal Top Story July 2024
Challenge Parameters: Write a story that prioritizes structure, technique, or form over emotional release.
Fiction with a limerick sandwich.
Runner Up: Small Heat Challenge
Challenge Parameters: Write a haiku about a small source of warmth during winter.
Haiku
Runner Up: The Forgotten Room Challenge
Challenge Parameters: Write a story that centers on a room that hasn’t been entered in years.
Fictional Magic Realism
Runner Up: Through the Keyhole Challenge
Challenge Parameters: write a story that begins with someone peering through a keyhole or modern equivalent.
Runner Up: L*pogram Challenge
Challenge Parameters: write a story without using the letter 'i'.
Fictional Horror.
Runner Up: A Taste of Home
Challenge Parameters: write about a recpie and its personal/cultural significance.
Non-Fiction Recipe.
Runner Up: The Soundtrack of Your Year Challenge
Vocal Top Story November 2024
Non-Fictional Musical Playlist of the year
Runner Up: Represented Challenge
Challenge Parameters: write about a moment when you saw yourself represented in the media and how that influenced your sense of identity and belonging.
Non-fiction.
Honorable Mention: Love in 50 Words
Challenge Parameters: Love poetry using precisely 50 words.
Vocal Top Story May 2026
Fictional horror.
Vocal Top Story April 2026
Tearjerker Fiction.
Vocal Top Story April 2026
Slasher inspired horror.
Vocal Top Story March 2026
Ray Bradbury inspired science fiction.
Vocal Top Story February 2026
Poetry
Vocal Top Story January 2026
Fiction
Vocal Top Story September 2025
Fiction Magic Realism
Vocal Top Story August 2025
Inspired by True Events
Vocal Top Story August 2025
Fictional Horror
Vocal Top Story July 2025
Fiction
Vocal Top Story May 2025
Inanimate Love Letter
Vocal Top Story March 2025
Poetry/Lyrics
Vocal Top Story December 2024
Fictional Magic Realism
Vocal Top Story September 2024
Fictional Horror/Bizarre
Vocal Top Story August 2024
**Content Warning**
Nonfiction act of kindness.
Vocal Top Story November 2023
Fictional Horror/Bizarre
Vocal Top Story March 2021
Nonfiction story about Amos' adoption of two sweet and spicy dachshunds.