GCWA Writing Contest

Read entries from previous winners:
2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |  2010 through 2014 |

Best Writing Contests of 2022, recommended by ReedsyGCWA 2022 Writing Contest is Closed

Check back in the fall for next year’s contest.  Writing Contest is open to GCWA members and the public — adults 18 and over, youth 11 to 17.  Winners were announced at the GCWA meeting in April, 2022. List of winners and their winning entries posted here.

Documentation for 2022 Contest (adults 18 and over)

Writing Contest announcement-2022
Writing Contest Guidelines-2022
Writing Contest entry form 2022 (for mail in entry)
Online Submission Form

Documentation for 2022 Youth Writing Contest (age 11 through 17)

Youth Writing Contest Announcement-2022
Youth Writing Contest Guidelines 2022
Youth Writing Contest entry form 2022 (for mail in entry)
Online Submission Form

Other Documentation for 2022 GCWA Writing Contest

JudgingCriteria-Fiction
JudgingCriteria-Nonfiction
Judging criteria-Poetry
JudgingCriteria-Children’s Stories

Formatting Tips for Writing Contest entries [doc]
Formatting Tips for Writing Contest entries [pdf]

If you have questions please email specialprojects@gulfwriters.org

GCWA 2015 through 2022 Writing Contest winners are posted below!
Read winning submissions here.

Sponsor or Donate to keep this contest Free for Youth entrants. Contact specialprojects@gulfwriters.org


All submissions must include full payment made by check to GCWA.
DO NOT MAIL CASH. Check should be for your entries only and not for other monies owed to GCWA. You can also pay below with PayPal.

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Member Contest Entries Non-Member Contest Entries

Entries




Entries



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2022 Winners

Fiction/Children’s Stories (these categories were combined and judged together according to our guidelines, due to the low number of entries in each.
1st — Leah Miller — Terror in December (Children’s Stories)
2nd — Mary Charles — Counterculture ( Fiction)
3rd — Nancy Leake — Susie Spider Looks for a Friend (Children’s Stories)

Nonfiction:
1st — Deborah Burghardt — Dream Your Ink
2nd — Diane Parnell — A Slip of the Scalpel
3rd — Sally Basmajian — The Field

Poetry:
1st — Megan Dalziel — Maritime Muse
2nd — Debbie Watz — Bayou Sunset
3rd — Paul Anthony — Minimum Wage-Brianna

Youth:
1st — Nishini Fernando — Life is for the Living
2nd — Ryan Lee — A Soldier During the Great War
3rd — Keven Lacayo — Death

2021 Winners

Children’s Stories
1st — K.J. (Kathy) Boyd — Too Many Kids
2nd — Mariah Julio — Where is Everything?
3rd — Nancy Leake — Sammy Snail’s Wild Ride
Fiction
1st — Vic Larson — Drafted
2nd — Carol Light — A Tough Nut to Crack
3rd — Pat McAnulty — The White Side of Aurora
Nonfiction
1st — Jeanne Meeks — Ode to Otis
2nd — Geneva Kelly — Ready or Not
3rd — Alina Steele — Mrs. Murphy
Poetry
1st — Jeannette Batko — Critique-Mystique
2nd — Maya Fleischmann — Patience Stillwater’s Sestina
3rd — Teresa Falsani — A Single Dolphin
Youth Category Winners
Poetry — Christopher Kozlowski — Silencing the Star of David
Fiction — Samadhi Salazar — The Mother of All Natures
Nonfiction — Nishini Fernando — The Wicked Wall of Water
Other Youth Category Entries
Poetry
Addisyn Nadwodny — My Feathered Friend
Callie Sousa — Home Connect
Carolina Solomon — Sense and Uniform
Claire Hong — The Death Lake
Claire Hong — ghost
Claire Hong — divided
Euelin Rienzo — Our Patchworked Skeleton
Georgiana Muresan — The Unknown
Jaansi Parsa — The Magic of Music
Nishini Fernando — Blindfold
Peyton Sidweil — Political Climate
Samandhi Salazar — Nourishment With a Side of Horror
Fiction
Alexis Davis — Shadows of Stonewall Inn
Jonathan Hong — The Limousine Driver Saves the Day
Katherine Short —The Mirror
Nishini Fernando — Unite
Nonfiction
Addisyn Nadwodny — Farewell Pearl Bing Bing

2020 Winners!

GCWA contest winners

[L to R] Melissa Panneton, Maya Fleischman, Andrew Conlyn, Nancy Leake, Mary Lou Williams, Christie Zarria

Children’s Stories

1st place — Paper, the Airplane by Lynne Blackburn
2nd place — The Lonely Bear by Andrew Conlyn
3rd place — The Picnic by Nancy Leake

Fiction

1st place — Neighborhood Watch by Maya Fleischmann
2nd place — Conquer Your Fears by Kristen Taylor
3rd place — When the Bough Breaks by Pauline Hayton
Honorable Mention (Youth) — Circus Man by Arnav Adi

Nonfiction:

1st place — Missing Neil by Lorraine McCann
2nd place — The Lesson I Learned in Sister Regina’s Class by Mary Lou Williams
3rd place — Lucy, You’ve Got Some ‘Splaining To Do by Christie Zarria

Poetry:

1st place — The Concert by Melissa Panneton
2nd place — The Downfall of Cousin Leaf by Lynne Blackburn
3rd place — Morning  by J. Bradley Burt

Children’s Stories

1st place — Oliver Goes Exploring by Nancy Leake
2nd place — Pointless, The Misfit Star by Mariah Julio
3rd place — Three Cheers for Emilio by Elizabeth Weiss Volstadt

Fiction

1st place — Thirteen by F.J. Talley
2nd place — The Trophy by K.J. Boyd
3rd place — Sweet taste of Success by Pauline Hayton

Nonfiction:

1st place — Unvarnished Truth by Bob Nelson
2nd place — Kay’s Eternal Garden by Geri McArdle
3rd place — Jus’ a Bus Ride by Michael Boyd

Poetry:

1st place — Decent/Desent by Nick Sweet
2nd place — Child of the Sea by Megan Dalziel
3rd place — She Walks the Decks Alone by Lona Haskins

Children’s Stories

1st place — Lola BaJola and The Fly by Laura Marske
2nd place — The Curious Gray Mouse and The Christmas Tree by Martha Jeffers
3rd place — Pixel, the Filthy-Footed Feline by Mariah Julio

Fiction

1st place — Marked For Life by Sandy Dahlhofer
2nd place — Good Night, Have a Nice Sleep by Jan Nieman
3rd place — Pick Me by Wendy Halloren

Nonfiction:

1st place — Where the Action Is by David Aiken
2nd place — Swinging Back to Life by Geneva Kelly
3rd place — The Apartment by Rick Urban

Poetry:

1st place — Hurricane by Sharon Whitehill
2nd place — Caloosahatchee by Gary McLouth
3rd place — The River by Carmine Lombardo

2017 Winners!

Poetry

1st place — When We Came Home by Mary Beth Lundgren
2nd place — Sowing Seeds by Joan Heller Winokur
3rd place — Psyche’s Rhumba by Dan Reed England

Fiction

1st place — So This Guy Walks into a Bar by Judy Marksteiner
2nd place — City Lawyer by Bill Wilson
3rd place — To Name the Name of Your Father by Martin Nakell

Nonfiction:

1st place — China’s Big Balancing Act by Rose Giro
2nd place — Courage With a Small c by Patricia Sheehy
3rd place — The Riverview Melting Pot by Jan Nieman

Children’s Fiction:

1st place — A Day at the Circus by Martha Jeffers

2016 Winners!

Poetry

1st place — “Year End Giving” by Teresa B. Falsani
2nd place — “Acceptance” by Richard H. Fox
3rd place — “Silence” by Lori Izral

Fiction

1st place — “Disappointed” by Jan Nieman
2nd place — “Single Black Roses” by Richard Rimrodt
3rd place — “Crows” by Judy Loose
Honorable Mention — Terry Wright “A Time . . .”

Nonfiction:

1st place — “Life Lessons” by Patricia Sheehy
2nd place — “Teeth” by Judy Loose
3rd place — “Bathing an Elephant is a Big Job” by Gillian Birch

2015 Winners!

Fiction:

First Place – “Billy Hurts” by Jim Marcotte
Second Place – “The Shaman” by Frankie Patman Maguire
Third Place – “Boy with One Shoe” by Richard Rimrodt

Non-fiction:

First Place – “Smoke and Fire” by Eva Romanczak

Poetry:

First Place – “The Final Journey” by Barbara Rohde
Second Place –“It’s a Boy” by Dan Reed England
Third Place – “Thanksgiving” by Joyce Berrian Ferrari

Children’s:

First Place – “Tommy the Leaf” by Nancy Leake

The winners will be published in the Ft. Myers Magazine summer edition.