Announcing the Third Annual Personal Essay Awards Winners
Congratulations to the winners of the third annual Writer’s Digest Personal Essay Awards!
Congratulations to all the winners of the Third Annual Writer's Digest Personal Essay Awards! Read an interview with the First-Place winner Toni Lepeska in the May/June 2023 issue of Writer's Digest.
Want an opportunity to win a WD award? Keep checking our competitions page for upcoming competitions.
1. “Five Nights in Milford” by Toni Lepeska
2. “The Accidental Gardener” by Bichlien Hoang
3. “Fortune House” by Wally Suphap
4. “Another Reason for the Mona Lisa to Smile” by Carol Ikard
5. “Strange Beauty” by Jason Barthe
6. “Baby Don't Go” by Lindsey LeBlanc
7. “The Best Teacher in the World” by Robert Granader
8. “Prey” by Nicole Bosserman
9. “Masterpieces in the Making” by Evan E. Campa
10. “My Mother's Purse” by JS Picariello
11. “Sunflower” by Anna d'Archangelo
12. “Midway to the Tall Grass” by Lesli Christianson-Kellow
13. “Edges” by Jorie Kramer
14. “Grave Matters: Appreciating a Life in a Place of Death” by Kim Clarke
15. “The Dancer at Four” by Susan Tweedy
16. “Baking Lessons” by Ann Winegar
17. “A Memory of Oysters” by Keith G. McWalter
18. “On Fridays I Bake Challah” by Lori Gottlieb
19. “Pandemic Panacea” by Kay Dixon
20. “Jackson” by Patricia Rhodes
21. “The Mixer” by Lee Ann Farmer
22. “A Tangled Nest” by Jennifer Lynn
23. “Trauma Exhaustion in the Time of COVID – Written January 2021” by Amanda Kassner
24. “What Is Love?” by Charla Anderson
25. “Motherhood with Toddlers” by Ariel Thorp
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.
