Yagyu: Fiction by Grace A. Lin

Written by

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…

Read More »

Wǒ De: Fiction by Alice Kuok

Written by

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…

Read More »

Jaded Girls: Fiction by Davina Jou

Written by

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…

Read More »

How Far We Stray: Fiction by Angelica Lai

Written by

2025 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prize - Grand Prize Winner, Adult Category From the judges: “Combining vivid physical descriptions with nostalgic reflections, this tale of an adult daughter returning to her deceased mother’s homeland is simultaneously tender and unsentimental. Intelligent and polished… a clear standout.” I sit by my mother’s death bed and read about caecilians, worm-like creatures that survive by tearing off their mothers’ milky blue skin. The mother…

Read More »

In the Name of Scientific Progress: Fiction by Susan L. Lin

Written by

The Present  Two years ago today, The Present saw its first Runaway. Soon after, the second followed suit. Then a third, a fourth, and a fifth. By now, they numbered in the tens of thousands. The tech had been a long time coming, but Sunny still felt nothing but dread when she first heard news of a device that boasted the ability to transport living things back into The Past. Phoenix Industries, a private research and experimental laboratory with locations all over the world, had reportedly been…

Read More »

Soon Enough, Later: Fiction by Naomi Gage

Written by

It had been six weeks, but the memory lay in her like the pit of a stone fruit. Lila hunched over in the passenger seat, leaning her head against the cold, greasy glass of the window. Rain drummed the glass with a wild, hammersome kind of fury that seemed fatally separate from the precise, measured conversation inside the car. Lila fantasized punching the window open, breaking it like a flower splitting into bloom, fractals spiraling everywhere— how the bone would brutalize the skin, nerves lighting…

Read More »

A-chieu: Fiction by Wiley Ho

Written by

Even before she entered the house, I would hear A-chieu calling to whoever might be in the courtyard “Have you eaten yet?” It was a common greeting but, in Hakka, in the way A-chieu said it, it sounded more like an accusation.  A-chieu was our family cook when I was little in Taiwan. She would be a hundred today but in my memory, she is a woman in her prime, full of fire and the master of the flame. A stout woman with powerful limbs, her thick body darted impossibly fast between the sink…

Read More »

Luck Girl; Benign City: Fiction by Herbert Chang

Written by

"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…

Read More »

Atlantic Menhaden: Fiction by Nicholas Servedio

Written by

Honorable Mention, Adult Category The first time I saw all the dead fish was in early June. It was a rainy day, and my dad and I were walking along the Hudson River Greenway. The path was sandwiched between the flow of the river and the flow of traffic, and every so often a car or truck would pass by in the rightmost lane and spray muddy water and gravel onto the path. My dad was stressed out and walking quickly. He had recently been made chair of the Chemistry department, and while the new title…

Read More »

Gravitational Pull: Fiction by Susan L. Lin

Written by

Honorable Mention, Adult Category In one of my earliest memories, my sister Lulu lies facedown on the living room sofa while our mother leans over her prone body, liberally applying a topical medication behind her ears. The skin there is puffy and raw, an open wound. “Your zǐzǐ pointed at the moon, and look what happened,” our mother says to me, though her gaze never strays from the task at hand. “Now you will know never to do the same.” Lulu whimpers into the seat cushion, and when…

Read More »