Announcing the First Annual Personal Essay Awards Winners

Grand Prize Winner: "Suspended” by J.E. Stamper

2. “The Noble Lessons of Flipping Burgers” by Gwendolyn Rogers

3. “Let Your Sons Come Out” by Marina DelVecchio

4. “Dinner With My Dad” by Jane R. Snyder

5. “The Flower Pot” by Olive Balla

6. “Be Free Where You Are” by Wei Teng Chen

7. “The Secret Lives of Parking Lots” by Robert Granader

8. “Finding Our Way Home, The Japanese Way” by Wei Teng Chen

9. “Out With the New and in With the Old” by Kathy Bradshaw

10. “Nine Thousand Things” by John Sandness

11. "The Talk" by Susan Panzica

12. "The Handkerchief" by Pamela Beere Briggs

13. "The Alchemy of Apple Pie" by Betsy Armstrong

14. "How to Be a 'Winsor Girl'" by Tricia Elam Walker

15. "Music Lessons" by Cleo Huang

16. "Eye Witnesses" by M. Barbara Mulrine

17. "Taking Credit" by Kathy Bradshaw

18. "Ella Bella" by Mary Hibbeln

19. "The Woven Road" by Lisa Volz

20. "The Hawk" by Clint Martin

21. "Curmudgeon" by Trudy Way

22. "A Portrait of Steveston" by Noémie Boucher

23. "Carpe Diem" by Phyllis Redman

24. "To The Other Side" by Lisa Martin

25. "Zen and the Art of Cleaning House" by Mary Hutchings Reed

About Cassandra Lipp

Cassandra Lipp is the former managing editor of Writer's Digest. She is the author of Queen City Records, which tells the stories behind the indie record shops of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Her work has appeared in Greener Pastures, The Belladonna, Little Old Lady, Points in Case, and Ohio's Best Emerging Poets 2019. Follow her on Twitter @Cassie000000.