The Third Time Hiro Ran Away: Fiction by J.C. Hsyu

Written by

Honorable Mention, Adult Category The second time Hiro ran away, he lived in the rubble of Longshan Temple and sold pieces of charcoal until the priests told him to go home. So he went to his friend Gu-gu’s house, but after a week Gu-gu’s mother said she couldn’t feed him anymore. He hid in back alleys for a few days after that, sharing scraps with dogs so he could sleep with them at night. When people stopped giving him scraps a fisherman gave him a ride to Taoyuan, the next city over,…

Read More »

Isolation Tank: Fiction by Sharon S.Y. Lee

Written by

Honorable Mention, Adult Category On his last day of work, they present Kevin Chen with an enormous self-care basket. It includes an isolation tank session, redeemable at the local spa.  His colleagues cheer and raise their glasses towards him. Here’s to finally relaxing in your retirement! Kevin takes a sip from his plastic flute and says nothing. He has been dreading this day: his forced retirement. Forty years working as an electrical engineer designing cell phone semiconductor…

Read More »

Our Yin and Yang Family: Creative Nonfiction by Emma Tzeng

Written by

Finalist, Adult Category When my husband, Anthony, and I set out to adopt, there was much we didn’t know. We could’ve never predicted that, in spite of all our research and diligence, our adoption agency would declare bankruptcy a couple years after leading us down an arduous approval process and bankrupting us of $26,000 in upfront fees. We could’ve never known that we’d then scramble to get re-approved through our local county’s foster system, only to have our paperwork (containing…

Read More »

Driving Lessons: Fiction by Lena Chen

Written by

Adult Category, Finalist Halfway through our last summer, Miranda decided I needed to learn how to drive. I was curled up on our blue couch from Goodwill, tilting the library copy of Persuasion toward the hazy light from the windows. “Why?”  “Why not?” She lifted a shoulder uncovered by her black off-the-shoulder tee that would prompt yet another fight when our parents returned from the restaurant. “I’m bored.” In the fall, Miranda would be attending NYU on a full ride, a…

Read More »

They’ve Always Come to Us, and We’ve Always Stayed: Fiction by Eddie Lo

Written by

Adult Category, Finalist “I want to be an architect after I graduate." That’s what Ruo remembered saying before the beatings came.  His father was furious. “Have the Japanese bastards gotten into your head!” The next morning, his father took him on a six-hour trek to the port of Kīrun. They walked from the city all the way to the water, even passing a man without a uniform riding a bicycle. “He bought that with blood money,” his father muttered and said nothing more. When…

Read More »

To My Date at Wonder Bar: Creative Nonfiction by Christine Huang

Written by

Finalist, Adult Category It’s 8:30 pm, and I’m half an hour late to meet you. I spot you smoking out on the curb in front of Wonder Bar, a queer bar I’d Googled dozens of times over the past decade, always too nervous to set foot in it. You’re rocking a low fade, oversized button-up, and cuffed jeans. We’d matched on Bumble a week or so before, and I knew from a short video call that I liked the sandpaper sound of your voice. Out of habit, I give you the same warm hug I give everyone…

Read More »

A Pilgrimage: Creative Nonfiction by Cindy Cheng

Written by

2026 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prize - Honorable Mention, Adult Category I, Pilgrim "It's an absolutely ridiculous way to travel. We don’t even send you a real itinerary, just an outline with hardly any information. You show so much trust in us by just showing up,” Shanthum said in his familiar, British upper-class accent, genuinely bewildered. I felt simultaneously seen and relieved that this little speech was happening at the end, not the beginning of the two weeks the…

Read More »

Apology Flowers: Fiction by Laurie Fang

Written by

2026 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prize, Grand Prize Winner - Middle Grade Category A graveyard is where the most flowers are given—where love is offered when it is too late to be received. For souls who are recognized once people realize they’re really gone. Some offerings, the others apologies made of nostalgia. Though she wonders if there is a graveyard where she's able to lay flowers to the ground for herself. For a culture that she once tried to outgrow and a language…

Read More »

Assembly Required: Functioning Woman – Fiction by Serena Shih

Written by

2026 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prize, Grand Prize Winner - High School Category This box includes:  ONE preassembled body: upright, not yet stabilized.  ONE voice: factory setting - unfiltered.  ONE ambition: expandable beyond recommended capacity  ONE emotional core: highly responsive to external pressure.  ONE smile: flexible, long wear.  ONE mirror: pre-distorted.  ONE drawer: sealed at factory.  And a surplus of screws labeled:  SHOULD  GOOD…

Read More »

Home / 故鄉 : Fiction by Susan Hong

Written by

2026 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prize - Grand Prize Winner, College Category 一份蔥油餅。謝謝。  The girl at the stand regards Natalie with a flattened expression. She would be pretty were her eyes not so artificially narrowed, her lips not pressed so thin, Natalie thinks. Or, rather, this is probably what Natalie’s mother would think. Every day, Natalie is coming to realize more and  more that what she has always thought was the little voice in her head…

Read More »