“Lin”: A Short Story by Triona Tsai

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Lin was tired of running.  When her family was ripped from her 15 year old world, Lin ran. She ran to escape the scathing voices in her head. Ran to escape the hunger for a warm embrace. 1 year, 6 months, and 8 days later, Lin ran alone. As the youngest of three, Lin had never expected to be the last one. Her brother, Jin, was crafted from the watery depths, his disposition as unruly and free as the tormented sea. Waterfalls of water twisted and curled like an obedient beast at the flick…

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“Kinmen, 1969”: Fiction by Deborah Jang

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  2024 Grand Prize Winner, College Category On odd days of the month, the mainland bombards the islands with shells. On even days, we return the favor. The steel capsules come thick and fast, a distinctive whistle in the air. My teacher instructs us to take cover in the concrete-reinforced bomb shelter under the school’s track. I don’t learn very much on those days.  Half a million shells landed on Kinmen in forty days. If Kinmen is 150 square kilometers, calculate the number…

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Homing: Creative Nonfiction by Lenna L. Liu

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  Homing  Dedicated to my father  Meet me   along a border, a boundary,  where earth and water meet.  Snow geese fly   tracing coastlines,   salmon leave   salty bay waters for freshwater streams,   grey whales slow  filling their bellies on long journeys to arctic seas.  What if borders are pathways,  not barriers  guideposts, banks of a stream,   fertile grounds for crossings   birthing diversity,  in estuaries,…

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Luck Girl; Benign City: Fiction by Herbert Chang

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"Subtle, restrained, elegant. A moving, poignant reflection of youth, friendship and first love." - Judges' Remarks Grand Prize Winner, Adult Category – 2024 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes Luck Girl; Benign City  Summer 1989, I met Claire in my hometown Bei-Liao. But it also doesn’t matter, because I almost never tell anyone.  Memories of that day always unwind like a roll film, in third person present. I walk between rice fields. My sweaty school uniform…

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the trilingualist: Creative Nonfiction by devon chang

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  Finalist, College Category - 2024 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes “蘋果” “りんご”  “Apple.”  A baby gurgles apple sauce.  A mother splits her tongue in three.  The learned language  I was around the age of four when I first experienced a paralyzing sensation in my mouth. From the moment my teeth broke through the thick skin of a granny smith, I began to feel red swelter: first around my lips, and soon after, sprawling recklessly…

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Charles Yu, Shawna Yang Ryan, Alvina Ling select 2024 Creative Writing Prize Winners

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We are pleased to announce the 2024 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. In its third year, the prize expanded to include adult writers of all life stages. Their work will be published on TaiwaneseAmerican.org throughout the year. Now in its fourth year, the prize saw…

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Now accepting submissions: 2024 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes celebrate Taiwanese American student and adult writers

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  TaiwaneseAmerican.org is pleased to announce the 2024 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…

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Betelnut, Soldier-Wolf 檳榔，兵狼: Fiction by YakuzaBaby

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Grand Prize Winner, Middle School Category Betelnut, Soldier-Wolf: 檳榔，兵狼  Echo sat on the edge of the cracked leather seat, clipping a curler into her bangs. What the hell was she doing in this dingy-ass store, every surface plastered with slippery tiles in dire need of grouting, a flickering neon sign out front with the words 檳榔 五十年老店 and a drawing of a clawed hand faded into it. Though she could not read the words, she found the strange hand amusing. Her phone vibrated…

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