The Creative Writing Program awards a number of prizes annually to University of Pennsylvania students. See below for our most recent prize winners; previous winners are listed at the bottom of this page. Details on our 2026 prizes and how to submit work will be available on our website in early 2026.
Congratulations to the 2025 recipients of the Creative Writing Prizes:
The Peregrine Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets
Awarded to the best poetry by a graduate student.
Winner: Christos Kalli
Contest judge Julia Bloch writes: Christos Kalli’s finely wrought poems of sudden images and social bonds both frayed and mending startle and linger with their ability to meditate and observe. In “Love Fragments” Kalli writes, “greek is not the language you want to hear as you press / your face in the sheets // but I translate to be heard and please” — it's a tender and sharp depiction of the way language distances and binds us.
Honorable Mention: Michael Watkins
About the judge: Julia Bloch is the author of Lyric Trade: Reading the Subject in the Postwar Long Poem and three books of poetry, including Letters to Kelly Clarkson. A Pew Fellow in the Arts, she directs the Creative Writing Program at Penn.
The College Alumni Society Poetry Prize
Awarded to the best poetry by an undergraduate student.
Winner: Sassou Djato
Contest judge Julia Bloch writes: Sassou Djato’s poems are achingly alive in their wordplay, intertextuality, formal erasures and eruptions, and deep sense of the way words can transform through their “calling” and “meanmaking.” These poems both elude and allude in their syntactic and tactile imagining, (en)visioning for example how “vessels stretch to form passageway for slain cells to clot—and they patch, lying atop one another splashing and mending, until they section.”
Second Place: Ben Allen
Contest judge Julia Bloch writes: The taut physicality of Ben Allen’s lines creates stirring and moving canvases of action and landscape, across poems that play with motion and slack as much as they capture still moments of incredible resonance.
Third Place: Jillian Troth
Contest judge Julia Bloch writes: “The words keep the time,” Jillian Troth writes. These beautiful poems stir and animate with their unflinching take on secrets of memory, place, and the body.
Honorable Mention: Celine Choi, Ryu Creighton, Dylan Fritz, Daphne Glatter, Irma Kiss, Sandra Lin, Charlie-Ana Sywulak-Herr, Ava Ye, Sophie Young
About the judge: Julia Bloch is the author of Lyric Trade: Reading the Subject in the Postwar Long Poem and three books of poetry, including Letters to Kelly Clarkson. A Pew Fellow in the Arts, she directs the Creative Writing Program at Penn.
The Lilian and Benjamin Levy Award
Awarded to the best review by an undergraduate of a current play, film, music release, book, or performance.
Winner: Josephine Buccini, “The Virgin Suicides’ Dance with Catholicism”
Contest judge Taije Silverman writes: I like how personal this review of The Virgin Suicides is, sharing pleasurable glimpses into Josephine Buccini’s own Catholic childhood, from a captious grandmother to the broken-sworded Joan of Arc still on a windowsill. The reviewer’s syntax, too, has an assured and shifting rhythm, and images from the movie here are plentiful and fresh. But the review’s real brilliance is its lament about perspective, noting that this is “a movie by a woman based on a book by a man writing a teenage boy’s perspective on teenage girls,” and thus, “from the tiny peephole of the male gaze, we watch these Rapunzels in their suburban house of a tower.” Buccini is a genuinely deft writer and makes trenchant insights about empathy.
Second Place: Norah Rami, “Low Cut Connie Brings Rock Home with Art Dealers”
Contest judge Taije Silverman writes: This vivid and sensory-dense review of Philly-based avant-garde rock band Low Cut Connie lures us into the band’s small-bar scene through an opening line about its front man “in a tattered tank held together only by sweat and pure will” while he gyrates atop a piano. Giving a clear sense of a complex sound, Norah Rami moves this review from the music to a film about it, shot after the pandemic rearranged our experience of live performance. Low Cut Connie’s concerts are described with delight (“electrifying shows that ooze sex, fun, and authenticity; not merely performing their songs but performing their persona”) and Rami’s elegant, animated prose convinces us that the film embodies this same energy.
About the judge: Taije Silverman's second book of poetry, Now You Can Join the Others, was published in 2022. Her translations of Italian poet Giovanni Pascoli were published in 2019 and shortlisted for the Florio Prize. She is faculty advisor for DoubleSpeak.
The Phi Kappa Sigma Fiction Prize
Awarded to the best original short story by an undergraduate.
Winner: Christina Poulin, “To Lose Oneself”
Contest judge Abbey Mei Otis writes: Poulin’s story astonishes me with its ambition, with all the ways it vaults toward difficult craft choices and sticks each landing flawlessly. Poulin takes us into a historical setting and captures not just the period detail but the tone (the repression and violence and wonder in the air of early-20th-century sideshow culture). She introduces an element of body horror that not only gives the story its visceral imagery but also deepens its emotional resonance. And she structures her story in carefully stacked containers that could feel like a gimmick but instead propel me through the world, all the way to an open but deeply satisfying ending.
Second Place: Luísa Manoela Romão Salles, “Watermelon Gum”
Contest judge Abbey Mei Otis writes: Salles’ story is a profound act of empathy and imagination. She uses fiction to inhabit the life of someone close to her, and in doing so creates a compelling character and an immersive portrait of the past 60 years. Carefully chosen details, gestures, and intimate family moments give the story a pressing, raw tenderness. I’m grateful to this piece for making me re-remember the porous boundaries and potential of fiction.
Third Place: Samantha Hsiung, “To Be a Sun”
Contest judge Abbey Mei Otis writes: Hsiung’s story is a graceful, soulful exploration of the divides that cut through a family – divides of generation, immigration, language, and homeland. It does not put forth easy solutions for bridging these divides, but instead offers clear-eyed regard as a form of care. Truth-telling as a path toward wholeness. The generosity and gentleness in this portrait of father and son, and Hsiung’s instinct for choosing small moments that contain whole worlds, lodged the story in my heart and my memory.
Honorable Mention: Nysa Dharan, Wei-An Jin, Tess O’Brien, Sophie Young
About the judge: Abbey Mei Otis’s story collection, Alien Virus Love Disaster (Small Beer Press) was named one of the best science fiction books of the year by The Washington Post and was a finalist for the 2018 Philip K Dick Award. Her short fiction has recently shown up in McSweeney’s, Tin House, Guernica, and the Magic: The Gathering website. She studied creative writing at the Michener Center for Writers, Oberlin College, and the Clarion West Writers Workshop.
The Judy Lee Award for Dramatic Writing
Awarded to a graduate or undergraduate student for the best script of any length.
Winner: Wahid Sarwar, “The Hungriest Hour” (screen)
Contest judge Yoni Brook writes: This script is a comedically intimate portrait of a family barreling toward an end-of-Ramadan fast meal. The script is able to achieve something difficult: engage us with a story that is specific (and, at times, outrageous), yet also feels universal in its depiction of intra-familial tensions and bonds. Understanding that cinema is a time-bound medium, the economical script uses a tense narrative structure – with an intentional score and visuals to heighten our senses – that keeps us glued to the story. The dialogue feels real, in that it's simultaneously awkward and funny, providing insight and empathy with its characters. I’m looking forward to watching this script become a film!
Second Place: Sophie Young, “All Grown Up” (screen)
Contest judge Yoni Brook writes: A coming-of-age feature film with a unique approach to the teenage-summer-camp-genre. The script gives each of its characters depth and motivation, painting a nuanced portrait of grief, parental distance, and adolescent longing. It manages to do all this within the confines of a summer camp, embracing it as a space for both joyful and clumsy moments. The script is acutely aware of visual storytelling, considering point-of-view, pacing, and shot selection. This will make a wonderful feature film.
Third Place: Robert McCann, “Doubles” (stage)
Contest judge Yoni Brook writes: A stage play that plays with language, and ideas of right-and-wrong. The script reads like a keyhole into a whole world of sprites and familial rivalries struggling for power. Its stage directions and lighting demonstrate a consideration of how to make the written word come alive for audiences. The play is destined to delight.
About the judge: Yoni Brook is a Peabody Award winning filmmaker whose films have screened at Sundance, Berlinale, and the New York and Toronto Film Festivals. Brook co-created, co-directed and lensed the docuseries PHILLY D.A., called “the second coming of THE WIRE in docuseries form” by New York Magazine. The series premiered at Sundance, was the first series to screen at the Berlinale, and broadcast on PBS Independent Lens/Topic & BBC Storyville. It won a Peabody Award, duPont-Columbia Award, Gotham Award, and was named one of the best TV series of the year by the New York Times, New Yorker, Vogue, TIME, Variety, Indiewire, Hollywood Reporter, and The Washington Post. He regularly films with personalities ranging from the Dalai Lama to Philip Glass, for clients including Meta, Time, and the Ford Foundation. Brook is an alumnus of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, CPB/PBS Producers Academy at WGBH and Berlinale Talents. He has served as a visiting professor in the Department of Film and Media Studies at Swarthmore College.
The Gibson Peacock Prize for Creative Nonfiction
Awarded to the best creative nonfiction piece—memoir or essay—by an undergraduate student.
Winner: Ava Ye, “To My Great Grandmother”
Contest judge Piyali Bhattacharya writes: This is a beautiful meditation in which the narrator dives into a history that is personal, but does not belong to her. The piece, then, is in conversation with her great grandmother, a woman who went through great struggle in the context of a serious history, but this narration never feels heavy. It engages in a crucial dialogue about a sincere political history, but it trades in image and in the evocation of emotion via objects and memories, their permanence and impermanence.
Second Place: Preethi Jayaraman, “Starlight Over Marina”
Contest judge Piyali Bhattacharya writes: This piece begins and ends with unforgettable images. Young girls raising their skirts on the beach to feel freedom. An immigrant family in America eating dinner in four corners of the house because communication is just so difficult across genders and generations. A daughter trying to reach their father, a father not knowing how to answer their daughter, all caught in an American Dream basement media room. This is an author who has stories to tell, and can do so cinematically.
Third Place: Marcella Soewignjo, “Everything Papa Is and Never Will Be”
Contest judge Piyali Bhattacharya writes: This piece is remarkable in its ability to inhabit memoir with the point of view of a child. We see everything the child narrator sees, we notice everything they notice. Because of that, the piece is necessarily imagistic and lays pictures out next to each other so that both the narrator and the reader can piece them together. The end sees the narrator in a slightly older voice, but the piece never loses its original, ethereal quality.
About the judge: Piyali Bhattacharya is a fiction and nonfiction writer. She is the editor of the anthology Good Girls Marry Doctors: South Asian American Daughters on Obedience and Rebellion, which won the Independent Publisher Book Award and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. She is the Abrams Artist-in-Residence at the University of Pennsylvania, where she has received the Beltran Family Award for Innovative Teaching and Mentoring in Creative Writing.
The Parker Prize for Journalistic Writing
Awarded to the best news article, exposé, investigative work, or reported essay by an undergraduate.
Winner: Jaxson Nield, “Laekin Vakalahi: The Eagles’ Newest Development Project”
Contest judge Lise Funderburg writes: Jaxson Nield’s richly detailed and well-reported feature story about the NFL’s International Player Pathway program opens, fittingly, in the team room of the Philadelphia Eagles. In this well-drawn scene, readers meet both Laekin Vakalahi, a new roster addition, and Jordan Malaita, the offensive tackle and fellow Australian in whose steps Vakalahi hopes to follow. Nield’s clear explanation of the program makes the subject accessible to readers, no matter their level of enthusiasm for the sport, and the personal details of Vakalahi’s journey satisfy all hunger for human interest. Reporting and observation are well-balanced in this piece, and the end note is particularly poignant as it echoes coach Nick Sirianni’s encouragement to practice wholeheartedly: “‘I’m here to learn,’ [Vakalahi] says, ‘I know my time will come.’ For now, his focus isn’t on shining under the bright lights of Lincoln Financial Field—it is on doing the work when no one is watching.”
Second Place: Josephine Buccini, “Are Penn Students Excellent Sheep?”
Contest judge Lise Funderburg writes: Josephine Buccini’s pop culture feature thoughtfully explores conformism in elite colleges and universities. Buccini anchors the story in a conversation with William Deresiewicz’s book, Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite, and in addition to providing a critique of the book itself, Buccini interviews Penn students and staff, weaving in their opinions and experiences. The interviews are where this piece shines, as Buccini enlists careful observations of personalities and mannerisms and displays a wonderfully discerning ear for pithy, revealing quotes. The five students who are featured speak openly about ambition, obligation, family responsibilities, and personal passions. The tug between practicality and risk-taking is made palpable throughout this balanced, insightful piece.
Third Place: Rachel Gittleman, “The Social Dance”
Contest judge Lise Funderburg writes: Rachel Gittleman takes the immersive reporting route in her delightful examination of the swing dance subculture by attending a swing class at Philadelphia’s Ethical Society. Her feature toggles between that onsite experience and profiles of its attendees and instructors. Particularly careful attention is given to characterizing movement and mood: “Couples twirl endlessly, the clacking of their heels and the stomping of their feet magnifying the rhythms curated by the D.J.” Gittleman also attends to the psychosocial outcomes for the participants. As one subject remarks about the regular gatherings, “It’s really rare to show up to a space and see your friends every week in your 30s. It’s a special part of the community.”
About the judge: Lise Funderburg is the author of Pig Candy: Taking My Father South, Taking My Father Home, a memoir about life, death, race, and barbecue. Other books include Black, White, Other: Biracial Americans Talk About Race and Identity, and Apple, Tree: Writers on Their Parents. Funderburg’s essays have appeared in The New York Times, Chattahoochee Review, Cleaver, Broad Street, National Geographic, Threepenny Review, Harper’s, Brevity, and elsewhere. She teaches memoir and creative nonfiction at Penn.
Past Contest Winners
2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001