Apology Flowers: Fiction by Laurie Fang

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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…

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Assembly Required: Functioning Woman – Fiction by Serena Shih

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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…

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Home / 故鄉 : Fiction by Susan Hong

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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…

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Last Night in Taipei: Fiction by Esther Fung

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2026 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prize – Grand Prize Winner, Adult Category Yang Qiuyue said she would buy the oranges herself.  Because her husband had always liked oranges and even if he couldn’t eat them anymore, he might still want to suck on them. But Rachel — that was what her daughter called herself now, after that girl with the hair from the American TV show — could not be relied on to properly choose fruit. She’d find the measliest ones and overpay for…

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In the Shadow of a Flag: Creative Nonfiction by G.L. Blandford

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Prologue  I was born in Taichung, Taiwan, in 1974 under circumstances neither clear nor simple – though I would not understand that for decades. My mother, a radical street-smart woman from an upper class Taiwanese family, married a white Catholic U.S. Air Force airman from Kentucky shortly before my birth. My name carries his lineage, his pride, his promise of a better life in the U.S.  For much of my life, he believed I was his son, and I believed it too.  Four years later, my…

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Yagyu: Fiction by Grace A. Lin

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He has a memory of jumping down concrete bleachers, monolithic and grey, like a staircase built for giants. Each drop sends a jolt through his knees; each step is nearly waist-high. There are snacks, too. Salty and crunchy, or sweet and sticky, the manufactured flavor is engineered not just to please, but to wire itself so deeply into a child’s brain that years later, the cravings trigger a sense of nostalgia that feels like truth.  He’s certain that the memory takes place at a baseball…

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Translation is a gift: Creative Nonfiction by brenda Lin

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緣 The first word I translated from Mandarin to English for my husband was 緣. We had met on a summer study abroad program in St. Petersburg during White Nights, when, at the end of each day, the sun dipped below the horizon, just grazing the night, before it glided back up into the sky, and we felt as though time belonged to us. Or, maybe what we felt was that we belonged outside the borders of time. We were bright-eyed twenty-year-olds, newly philosophical and contemplative, but also wild…

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Wǒ De: Fiction by Alice Kuok

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2025 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prize – Grand Prize Winner, Middle Grade Category From the judges: “‘Wo de’ is a story about two school boys in Taiwan and their growing friendship. It is observant, subtle and evocative, full of sensory detail that make the world feel rich and alive. For a young writer, this story is remarkable for its tone and sense of longing and nostalgia. We look forward to hearing more from this impressive young voice.” There was nothing left to…

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Jaded Girls: Fiction by Davina Jou

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2025 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prize – Grand Prize Winner, High School Category From the judges: "‘Jaded Girls’ is a ghost story which deftly weaves past and present together to tell a compact, complete narrative that also hints at more. There is much to admire in its originality and moments of humor and surprise. A polished piece of writing.” Vivian’s wedding ring was featherlight against her wet skin—the cheapest thing at the market near where a ghost clawed her…

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Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken: Creative Nonfiction by Kelly Chu

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2025 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prize – Grand Prize Winner, College Category From the judges: “Playful and poignant, this submission infuses simple family recipes with deep emotional resonance. A bold and original take on themes of food, family, and inheritance.” Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken  Ingredients:  2 lbs of boneless childhood (preferably thigh meat, for tenderness)  1 cup of cultural ambiguity (1 part Taiwanese brown sugar, 1 part American corn syrup)…

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