Announcing the 4th Annual Personal Essay Awards Winners
Congratulations to the winners of the 4th annual Writer’s Digest Personal Essay Awards!
Congratulations to all the winners of the 4th Annual Writer's Digest Personal Essay Awards! Read an interview with the first place winner, Katie Love, in the May/June 2024 issue of Writer's Digest.
Want an opportunity to win a WD award? Keep checking our competitions page for upcoming competitions.
1. "Killer Punchline: Comedy-Tragedy in the Dating World" by Katie Love
2. “Life According to the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale” by Wendy Hawkes
3. “My Secret Year” by Deb Lehman
4. “Your Rings and Your Wallet” by Mary Reed
5. “A Hand to Hate or Hold” by Nikki Campo
6. “Bar Mitzvah Boy” by Gerald Marsh
7. “Button and Blue” by Dorothy Wills-Raftery
8. “Counting to Four” by Anne Falkowski
9. “Heavy Like the Moon ” by Madeline Miles
10. “Partner in Progress” by Melanie Verbout
11. “What I Meant to Say” by Hannah He
12. “Dadae” by Victoria McGinley
13. “Tongue” by Raya Mahoney
14. “Personal Essay” by Susan Westlund
15. “How a Kind Cabdriver Brought Me Closer to My Late Husband” by Jan Tranen
16. “You Dead Husband's Dead Wife's Wedding Ring” by Anne Gudger
17. “Hollow Point” by Carol Fischbach
18. “Speak” by Annika Hudson-Laursen
19. “No Happy Hour at the Nectar Cafe” by Angelo Fernando
20. “Straightening Away My Culture” by Kira Lopez
21. “Amazing Grace” by Candida (Dida) Gazoli
22. “Beyond the Last Beat” by Tami Looney
23. “Solemn Vigil for Nino” by Tess Enterline
24. “30 Trillion Reasons” by Miera Rao
25. “LIC,11,NY” by Jeanne Favini
26. “Nip Decision” by Lyn Garson
27. “The Bear and The Bolt” by Nikki Mann
28. “An Ode to Phil Walker” by wayne welde
29. “Crossing the Country” by Pamela Cravez
30. “Valley of the Shadow” by Lisa Berryhill
Since obtaining her MFA in fiction, Moriah Richard has worked with over 100 authors to help them achieve their publication dreams. As the managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine, she spearheads the world-building column Building Better Worlds, a 2023 Eddie & Ozzie Award winner. She also runs the Flash Fiction February Challenge on the WD blog, encouraging writers to pen one microstory a day over the course of the month and share their work with other participants. As a reader, Moriah is most interested in horror, fantasy, and romance, although she will read just about anything with a great hook.
Learn more about Moriah on her personal website.
