With this year's theme, "Wanted," we wanted to evoke the classic wanted poster of the old west, which appears in Under a Painted Sky, but also to ask writers what it really means to be wanted. The word has both positive and negative connotations: it signifies pursuit, escape, and a sense of danger; but to be wanted is also to belong, which Samantha and Annamae learn on their journey in the novel. We received many great submissions this year, but narrowed it down to these five winners.

Grand Prize Winner

Laura Nejako for her short fiction piece entitled, “The Nobody of the Planet”

Best Entry for Short Fiction (two winners)

Amanda Snook for “God Has a Plan for Me”

Justus Berman for “Petrichor”

Best Entry for Poetry

Marisa Vanness for her series of four connected short poems on the theme of “Wanted”

Best Entry by a Writer Under 18

Nora Kamerow for her short story, “One, Two, Black”