We are elated to announce the winners and runners-up of our 2023 One Teen Story Teen Writing Contest! We received over 500 entries from teen writers across the globe, and narrowing it down was no easy feat. Each winner will receive $500 and publication in a forthcoming issue of One Teen Story.
Ages 13-15 Winner: “The Dangers of Pitying the Devil” by Saskia De Leeuw Kyle
“To give him a bit of credit, Caspian doesn’t say a word about the house as we step inside. He doesn’t say anything about the TV that we used to watch our favourite shows on or the steps where we sat when he cried into my shoulder about his fish dying.” — “The Dangers of Pitying the Devil” by Saskia De Leeuw Kyle
Saskia de Leeuw Kyle (she/her) is a writer and aspiring journalist based in Melbourne. She loves to write and read fiction (especially YA romcoms and fantasy). You can find her work on the website Rosie Respect. Saskia loves film, literature, languages, and travel and she aspires to be a teen author. When she’s not writing, you can find her listening to Taylor Swift or Lana Del Ray or binge watching romcoms.
Runner-up: “Big Dreams and Older Boys” by Meredith Lange
Ages 16-17 Winner: “Eleven Things You Don’t Remember” by Oliver Reimers
“This is a place I remember through taste; when I bite into the warmth of a peach pie, I see the wrought iron gate, the path to the door led under curved branches of autumn trees.” – “Eleven Things You Don’t Remember” by Oliver Reimers
Oliver Reimers is a writer from Sacramento, California. His work has been featured in Prime Number Magazine. When he’s not writing, Oliver enjoys playing piano, painting, and reading. His favorite book is A Separate Peace by John Knowles.
Runner-up: “Our Hands, Smeared with Daylight” by Amy Wang
Ages 18-19 Winner: “Railroads” by Luna Hou
“And so, under mansions of stars and the rabbit on the moon, Mama spun me a tale—a careful, halting tale with the English she had taught herself.” – “Railroads” by Luna Hou
Luna Hou is a Chinese-American writer studying English and Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was a 2020 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards National Gold Medalist in Flash Fiction and has work forthcoming in the blue route and The Kudzu Review. When she isn’t writing, you can find her inhaling a dirty chai latte, scouring the poetry shelf of her local secondhand bookstore, or godmothering her friends’ pets.
Runner-up: “The Accustomed Ennui” by Benjamin Reyes
Subscribe to One Story or One Teen Story in print to read the winners’ stories throughout the year. Our next Teen Writing Contest will take place in the fall.
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