2022 Winners

1st Place: 

Katherine Reynolds (Ursuline Academy of Dallas) for “Phantom Limb”

2nd Place:

Lakshmi Sunder (Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts) for “The Swap”

3rd Place:

Avani Haden (The Hockaday School) for “From Stem to Stern and Back Again (Musings on Shared Resilience)

Honorable Mention:

Charlotte Linklater for (Griffin School) for “The Cries of a Formaldehyde Baby”

Submission Criteria:

• You must be a resident of Texas, enrolled in high school, and between 14 and 18 years old at the time of submission

• Your submission must be your own original work of fiction inspired by the theme

• 3,000 words maximum word count

• You may submit only one story

• No entry fee required

Writing Resources:

• Follow @teenwritersproject on Instagram to find helpful writing tips and get your creative juices flowing with weekly writing prompts.

• Join the #TeenWritersProject community on Discord to connect with other teen writers.

Judging Criteria:

• Originality

• Expression of the theme (RESILIENCE)

• Unique writing style and voice

Judging Process:

• Each step of the judging process is blind—readers and judges won't see any identifying details about you.

• Each qualifying submission will be read by a member of our reading panel. Our reading panel will choose the finalists.

• Our panel of judges will read the finalists and select the winners.

• Winners will be notified by email.

• If you have any questions, please email us at: dallasliteraryfestival@gmail.com