Announcing the 6th Annual Personal Essay Awards Winners
Congratulations to the winners of the 6th annual Writer’s Digest Personal Essay Awards!
Congratulations to all the winners of the 6th Annual Writer's Digest Personal Essay Awards! Read an interview with the first-place winner, Sonja Livingston, in the May/June 2026 issue of Writer's Digest or here on the blog.
Want an opportunity to win a WD award? Keep checking our competitions page for upcoming competitions.
- "How to Read Your Work Aloud" by Sonja Livingston
- "Borrowed Time in Wild Places" by Heide Brandes
- "I Came Here to Burn" by Cheryl Kelley
- "Passthrough" by Cheryl Kelley
- "Mouth Full of Grass, Facing East" by Karen Bellerose
- "Singing in the Valley of Death" by William Ablan
- "When a Tree Falls.." by P. James Norris
- "The Year I Wrote Myself Back" by Kathryn M. Bowman Johnson
- "the wolf" by Cheryl Kelley
- "Magpie at the Mirror" by Nadia Alavosius
- "The Empty Tattoo" by Elizabeth Ciufo
- "My Belly's Breathing" by M.K. Been
- "Mugwort" by JoAnn Stevelos
- "Lying Down with Wolves" by Laurie Paternoster
- "The Moonlight Hotel" by Charles Lutz
- "Sounds of Freedom" by Kiki Cunningham
- "Until" by Kelly Stallard
- "When My Secrets Were No Longer Mine" by Jean Romano
- "Girlfriend ~ the short and longing of it" by Mo Conlan
- "What Sisters Do" by Rebekah Rossman
- "The Rock" by Christine Cameron
- "Crystal, Clear" Gordon Portman
- "That First Night" by Bari Benjamin
- "The El Salvadorian Motorcycle Accident" by Michael Fitzer
- "Unchosen" by Cheryl Kelley
Moriah RichardAuthor
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's editorial services and writing classes on her personal website.
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