Congrats to the 2026 Writing Contest Winners!

Congratulations to the winners of our annual Writing Contest, co-hosted by the Community Writing Center & East Lansing Public Library! You can learn more about the authors and read their winning selections below:

Youth Fiction:

Margot Stone is the first-place winner of youth fiction with her piece "Books for Curious Children.” Her favorite song is "Champagne Supernova" by Oasis. Her favorite food is sushi. She likes to write because it makes her express her feelings and makes her feel good. She likes to tell stories because it helps other people to understand her imagination. 

You can read her winning piece here: Books For Curious Children

Lillian Ross is the youth runner-up, with her piece "Patches." She is currently a fourth grader.  In addition to being an avid reader, Lillian plays softball, basketball, tennis, and golf, Detroit Tigers baseball and MSU Hockey, is involved in local theatre, and enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and traveling - and of course, snuggling with her cat Patches. You can read her winning piece here: Patches

Teen Fiction:

Khen Julia is the first-place winner of teen fiction, with his piece "Elegy." He is a 17-year-old Fil-Am writer and campus journalist. He is the winner of the Drabble the Dark contest by WATG Press for his piece “Communion,” with works featured in The Writer’s Monk Anthology, World Upside Down, and Sunlight Press. You can read his winning piece here: Elegy

Adult Fiction:

Maija Itenberg is the first-place winner of adult fiction, with her piece, "underdrawing." She is a student at Michigan State University’s Honors College majoring in English Literature, minoring in Russian and Philosophy & Law, and intending to attend law school after graduating in 2027. She has a fondness for rainy evenings and scented candles, The Cure, and writing excessively long sentences—with an overabundance of em dashes and semi-colons, of course—and intends to keep writing those sentences in between studying for her impending LSAT. Her poem, “fish’s stomach”, has recently been published in Volume X of The Foundationalist in May 2026. You can read her winning piece here: Underdrawing

Malcolm Woodstock is the adult fiction runner-up, with his piece "CheeseQuest." He is a twenty-five-year-old born-and-raised Michigander. He would like to thank you for taking any amount of time to look at his story, and hopes you would like to continue reading things he writes in the future. You can support him by following him on Bluesky, @4thbestmalcolm.bsky.social. You can read his winning piece here: CheeseQuest

Adult Non-Fiction:

Kelsie Donaldson is the winner of adult non-fiction, with her piece "A Victim of High Aspirations." She graduated from Michigan State University in 2019 with a degree in professional writing and now works in communications at the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine. Her fiction and poetry have been published in The 3288 Review, Balloons Literary Journal, and Vita Brevis Press. When she’s not reading or writing, she can often be found cycling through Taylor Swift albums or out on the trails with her walking group.

You can read her winning piece here: A Victim Of High Aspirations

Dr. Lydia Tang is the runner-up of adult non-fiction with her piece "A Book in War." She has been a resident of East Lansing since 2015. She attended the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics in Vancouver, WA, where she studied music and creative writing. She continued her music studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Central Washington University, the Academy of Music in Krakow, Poland, and the University of Illinois, where she completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in viola performance and a second Masters degree in Library Science. She has worked as an archivist/librarian at the American Library Association Archives, the Library of Congress, Michigan State University, and currently for Lyrasis - a nonprofit organization that serves libraries, archives, and museums around the world. She performs with regional professional orchestras and maintains a private studio teaching violin and viola. She also volunteers to tutor Ukrainians with English with ENGin and Balakun and donates to Ukraine aid organizations, including Come Back Alive and the Cultural Forces of Ukraine. You can read her winning piece here: A Book In War
 
Mykola Baidiuk (Микола Байдюк) is a Ukrainian poet and translator who currently serves in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He was the translator for "A Book in War." His published work includes "Swing Up, Swing Down" (1999) and “Poet of a Dazzling Timbre” (2007, 2018) and translations of children's literature, including O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi." Read more of his poetry.