Written by: Jenna Ulizio Winner of the 2026 Aetna Prize for Creative Writing for Children & Young Adults The Oil Burns at Both Ends PROLOGUE: The party was classy, expensive, and the best networking of the year, and Carson already wanted to tear her skin off. They…
Witch Doctor
Written by: Ava Venuk Second Place Winner of the 2026 Wallace Stevens Poetry Contest The waiting room has free glass-bowl almond packets. As if stolen, I slip one hundred sea salt calories in my pocket. A woman calls me in. Her office is a green couch,…
HEEP
Written by: Elijah Polance First Place Winner of the 2026 Wallace Stevens Poetry Contest Not yet shivering, camera in hand, the trail slopes downward from me. I spot a figure drifting in the corridor of trees, barren and wind-struck. An ant beside those monster legs, blink and he’s gone. Vanished as the…
Are You Still Using This Device?
Written by: Jenna Ulizio Third Place Winner of the 2026 Jennie Hackman Memorial Prize for Short Fiction I was stuck in the paragraph break between Form and function of the Schistocerca gregaria in simulated winter and Subjects were exposed to the elements via refrigeration. I scanned over the words again and again, but…
Check Engine
Written by: Piper Kimball Second Place Winner of the 2026 Jennie Hackman Memorial Prize for Short Fiction The armistice had become routine, and so it came as a shock to Beth when the once-familiar, now-forgotten engine grinding began again. She felt, for a moment, blissfully sucked down time’s vortex, and…
Stars Made Anew
Written by: Joei D’aloia First Place Winner of the 2026 Jennie Hackman Memorial Prize for Short Fiction I. On Wednesdays, the uniform is drenched in soggy dough water. The water is full of soggy dough that no one else wants to clean. It must be because I’m new that I’m cleaning it….
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Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV Series — A Review
Written by: Hannah Dang DISCLAIMER: The following blog post contains spoilers for Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians book series and the Disney+ series. I caution you to read at your own risk. From the moment I learned the English alphabet, I’ve loved reading. Instead of going outside to…
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Why Do I Suddenly Want to Read Nonfiction?
Written by: Jenna Ulizio Reading has always been an escape for me. In middle school, when reading bloomed into one of my most favorite things, it was fantasy that had me holed up for hours, marveling over how someone could draw me so completely from reality. I study English and History; I read a lot of…
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I Was a Computer Engineer, How Did I Get Here?
Written by: Edwige Edouard Everyone comes to college for different reasons. It could be to chase that dream job that would make you feel like you’re making a change in the world. Another reason could be that you want to make sure that you’re set up for a great job…
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Acceptance and Growing Up: A Review of The Boy and the Heron
Written by: Kaitlin Anderson Despite being a diehard fan of Ghibli movies, I often struggle to describe how they make me feel. Many of them have required multiple watch-throughs just to take everything in. It’s easy to get swept away by the animation and music while losing track of the…
