Winning Writers Announces the Winners of the 33rd Annual Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest

NORTHAMPTON, Mass., Oct. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Winning Writers is pleased to announce the results from its 33rd annual Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest. Shelby Stewart of Sacramento, CA won the $3,500 first prize for fiction for her story "Going and Going and Going." Bea Chang of Seattle, WA won the $3,500 first prize for nonfiction for her essay "Requiem for a Bubble Tea." The top two winners also received $100 gift certificates from the contest co-sponsor, Duotrope. 1,757 entries were received from around the world.

"Going and Going and Going" depicts a teen girl's decline and death from terminal cancer, through the eyes of her younger sister who feels guilty about envying the girl's now-vanished beauty and popularity. Seasonal imagery effectively mirrors the story's emotional trajectory, as autumn gives way to winter, and the holiday rituals that delighted the surviving sister as a child now remind her that the passage of time brings us all closer to the end. Mina Manchester, final judge of the 2025 Fiction & Essay contest, said, "What is so moving about this story is how the [older] sister's love tries to shield her family and loved ones from grief even before she's gone."

In "Requiem for a Bubble Tea," the search for a lost flavor from the homeland is the starting point for the Taiwanese-American narrator to reflect on what is lost and gained by straddling multiple cultures. Lamenting that emigration created a language barrier between herself and her grandparents, Chang attempts to research her way back into their world by tracking the historical currents that created Taiwanese cuisine. Manchester said, "This piece captures perfectly the longing for a particular taste and how the emotions it stirs bring us closer to who we are. The genius of it, however, captures how imperfectly we are ever able to duplicate a taste, or emotion, and how our relationships to our families and ourselves are always changing and impermanent, even in memory."

Twelve Honorable Mentions of $500 went to Paul Curley, Joan Dempsey, Lucinda Dhavan, Aria Dominguez, Martha Grace Duncan, Katherine Dykstra, Doug Emory, Robin Hirsch, Steven R. Perez, R.L. "Pete" Peterson, Patricia Schultheis, and Christy Tending. The top 14 entries and judge's comments are published online at Winning Writers.

The 34th contest is open now through May 1, 2026. The fee is $25 for each entry, maximum 6,000 words per piece.

We extend deep gratitude to Mina Manchester for her tenure as contest judge. For 2026, she is passing the baton to our new final judge, Tamra Badgett. Sarah Halper returns as our screening assistant.

In addition to the Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest, Winning Writers sponsors the North Street Book Prize, the Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest, and the no-fee Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest. Writer's Digest has named it one of the "101 Best Websites for Writers," most recently in 2025.

Contact:
Adam Cohen
[email protected]
413-320-1847

SOURCE Winning Writers