Cochise Newsroom

The winners of the 2025 Creative Writing Celebration contests were announced during the event held on April 4.

 

The Writing Contest featured three categories: poetry, fiction, and memoir, with first, second, and third place awarded in each category. The Kids Writing Contest was open to students in grades K-12, with winners for first, second, and third in each category depending on the number of entries.

 

In the poetry category, Alison Williams won first place for her poem “The Hero’s Journey.” Second place in poetry was the poem “Home is Where the Cart Is,” by Dave Warner, and third place was the poem “Why Do the Whales Beach Themselves,” also by Dave Warner.

 

In fiction, Gretchen Hill earned first place for “Mommy Takes the Tie to the Washing Machine.” Second place was “Another Word for Fire is Despair,” by Alison Williams, and third place went to “Dogwood,” by Robyn Shelbourne.

 

In the memoir category, Yotaki was awarded first place for “Beaten But Beautiful.” Second place was “The Girly Embrace” by Jan Breen. Trisha Faye placed third for “The Afternoon that Almost Wasn’t.”

 

In the Kids Writing Contest in the K-4 category, Lily Messina won first place, second place went to Emerson Casale for “Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover,” and third place was awarded to Darren Johannes. There were no entries in the 5-8 category. For the 9-12 category, first place went to Ray French for the story “Death by Dragon,” second place was awarded to Hannah Mazon for her story “Of Nettle and Heather.”

 

Winners in the Kids Writing Contest received certificates of accomplishment. Winners in the Writing Contest, first place was awarded $200, second place was awarded $100, and third place was awarded $50.

 

First-place winners will be published in the next issue of the Mirage, the Cochise College Literary and Arts magazine. All winners will appear in the Herald/Review Media.

 

For more information about the Creative Writing Celebration and both writing contests, visit https://www.cochise.edu/academics/creative-writing-celebration/index.html.