Judges Charles Yu and Shawna Yang Ryan select award recipients

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We are pleased to announce the inaugural cohort of honorable mentions, finalists, and grand prize winners of the Betty L. Yu & Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes, established in partnership with TaiwaneseAmerican.org in honor of Yu’s parents, who are longstanding Taiwanese American community leaders. Their work will be published on TaiwaneseAmerican.org throughout the year. 

We received a remarkable number of thoughtful, passionate entries, each of which was carefully reviewed and deliberated by the judges, and each was its own important testament to how gifted young Taiwanese American writers are. Through these prizes and virtual events, we hope to foster community and discussion with writers like you, and to encourage and support your work. As Ho Chie Tsai, founder of TaiwaneseAmerican.org said, “I hope one day this leads to a Taiwanese American authors, writers, journalists, and storytellers conference of some sort. I seriously think we might get to that point within a few years.”

The Prizes are named in honor of Betty Lin Yu and Jin-Chyuan Yu for their service to the Taiwanese-American community, including establishment of TACL LID Youth Camp in Southern California, co-founding of the South Bay Taiwanese-American School, the first school in the United States specifically for the purpose of Taiwanese Language instruction, establishment of North America Taiwanese Engineering Association, Southern California Chapter (NATEA-SC) and longtime support for other organizations including Formosa Association for Public Affair (FAPA), North America Taiwanese Women Association (NATWA), and Taiwan American Association (TAA).

The winners are:

HIGH SCHOOL
Winner: Spencer Chang (Poetry)
Judges’ Remarks: “In this sophisticated collection of poems confronting personal and community history, Spencer Chang elegantly uses a variety of poetic forms, white space, and highly original images to great emotional effect. In language where violence and beauty collide, Chang illuminates historical events such as the 228 Massacre, the murder of Vincent Chin, and the sacrifice of the Chinese in the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. Ultimately, these striking poems demonstrate how our personal and public histories are inextricable.”
Finalists: Phoebe Ga-Yi Chan, Garrett Paik, Cosette Wu
 
COLLEGE
Winner: Dri Chiu Tattersfield (Short Story)
Judges’ Remarks: “In this subtle and imaginative story, Dri Chiu Tattersfield explores questions of identity, family, foreignness and the body. The writing is nuanced and careful and emotionally grounded, evoking a sense of place and depth of feeling. This is an accomplished work by a promising voice.”
Finalists: Jireh Deng, Katy Hargett-Hsu, Candice Wang

Additionally, there were several Honorable Mentions:

HIGH SCHOOL
Katie Chen, Jaja Hashimoto, Britney Chen, Avery Lin Cummins
COLLEGE
Ashley Cheng, Emily Lo, Ying-Ann Chen, Jennifer Co, Carrie Hsu, Claire Kuo, Nnadi Samuel, Vanessa Wan, Huiru May Huang

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Related posts:

National Book Award Winner Charles Yu establishes prize for young Taiwanese American creative writers “Elegy for a Century Egg” and Other Poems by Katy Hargett-Hsu Now accepting submissions: 2022 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes celebrate Taiwanese American student writers Charles Yu, Shawna Yang Ryan, Alvina Ling Select 2022 Creative Writing Prize Recipients

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