TaiwaneseAmerican.org is pleased to announce the 2026 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes. Created in 2021 in collaboration with Taiwanese American author Charles Yu, the Prizes are intended to encourage and recognize creative literary work by Taiwanese American students, and to foster discussion and community around such work. In 2022, the prize expanded to include a separate middle school category for 6th-8th grade applicants, judged by Alvina Ling. In 2023, we added an additional category for adults in all stages of life beyond college. This year, we are thrilled to welcome guest editor Averylin Cummins, an alumni of the prize, to read from the Poetry selections.
Submissions may be in any literary genre including fiction, poetry, personal essays or other creative non-fiction. Submissions must be sent via Google Form and must be received by Tuesday, March 10 11:59 PM PT. In order to be eligible, submissions must be from writers of Taiwanese heritage (or writers with other significant connections to Taiwan), or have subject matter otherwise relevant to the Taiwanese or Taiwanese American experience.
Google Form: https://forms.gle/6M3oz2hXvthjiiMk6
Submissions will be considered in four categories: Middle School (enrolled in 6th-8th grade as of the deadline), High School (enrolled in high school as of the deadline), College (enrolled in community college or as an undergraduate as of the deadline), Adult (in any stage of life beyond college). Winners and finalists will be announced in May 2026. Cash prizes will be awarded as follows:
Grand Prize Winner: $500 – one selection per age category
Finalist: $200 – three selections per age category
Honorable Mention: $75 – at judge’s discretion per age category
In addition, each of the winners and finalists will have their submitted work published online by TaiwaneseAmerican.org and considered for publication in a future edition of Chrysanthemum: Voices of the Taiwanese Diaspora. All participants will be offered the opportunity to participate in a virtual group session with the judges.
The confirmed judges for the 2026 Prizes are:
Charles Yu is the author of four books, including Interior Chinatown (2020 National Book Award), and the novel How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe. He received the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 Award and was nominated for two Writers Guild of America Awards for his work on the HBO series, Westworld. He has also written for shows on FX, AMC, and HBO. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired, among other publications. Together with TaiwaneseAmerican.org, he established the Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Writing Prizes, in honor of his parents.
Shawna Yang Ryan is a fiction writer whose work engages with history, identity and immigration, particularly Asian American and Taiwanese American experiences. Previously, she was a tenured Associate Professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and Director of its Creative Writing Program. She is the author of the novels WATER GHOSTS and GREEN ISLAND, a book that began during her Fulbright year in Taiwan. Among other honors, she has received the Elliot Cades Emerging Writer Award, Hawai‘i’s highest literary honor, from the Hawai‘i Literary Arts Council, an American Book Award, and an Association for Asian American Studies Award for Best Book in Creative Writing. Her maternal line has been rooted in Taichung for four generations. She currently lives in Northern California, where she works as a writing coach.
Grace Loh Prasad writes frequently on the topics of diaspora and belonging. Her memoir, The Translator’s Daughter, was published in March 2024 by Mad Creek Books/The Ohio State University Press. The Translator’s Daughter is about navigating linguistic, cultural, political, and generational barriers as a Taiwanese American immigrant trying to build a connection with her birthplace.
Alvina Ling is VP and Publisher at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers where she has worked since 1999. She edits children’s books for all ages, including A Big Mooncake for Little Star and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, Dave the Potter by Laban Carrick Hill and illustrated by Bryan Collier, The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer, The Wild Robot by Peter Brown, Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes, Troublemaker by John Cho, The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan, and The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. She co-hosts the podcast Book Friends Forever with author Grace Lin and lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two cats.
Averylin Cummins is a senior at Occidental College majoring in Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture and is co-editor-in-chief of Occidental’s student-run literary magazine, The Oz. Averylin is an archivist, activist, poet, and storyteller who examines themes of family, identity, and mythology in their works. They have received honorable mentions from the Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes in both the high school and college categories.
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 Engineer’s Association, Southern California Chapter (NATEA-SC) and longtime support for other organizations including Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), North America Taiwanese Women’s Association (NATWA), and Taiwanese Association of America (TAA).
2026 Guidelines on Generative AI:
The purpose of the prize is to support writers of all stages in the Taiwanese American community and to encourage them as they refine and develop their craft. As such, we recommend against any use of generative AI, or other AI tools, in the creation of any work you submit. Please disclose use of any AI tool – in particular, as needed, please specify the function (brainstorming, proofreading, clarifying structure) and confirm that you are the author of the final draft and take full responsibility for its contents.
2026 Office Hours with Charlie:
To support emerging writers, prize co-creator Charles Yu will host a virtual “Office Hours” session on Sunday, February 22, 2026. The event will feature approximately 45 minutes of live Q&A, followed by 45 minutes of generative writing time for participants to draft or revise their submissions.
Participants are encouraged to submit questions when RSVPing. Open to anyone considering entering this year’s prize, as well as past participants.
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