Every year, Altrusa International and Tucson Festival of Books have a Tucson Young Authors Contest. Usually there are 20–24 winners picked for either their short story or poem. However, this year there were six winners who won both awards for their poem and their short story.
The awards will be given out on March 14, at the Tucson Festival of Books, and the winners’ stories and/or poems will be published in the 2025 anthology. Among those winners, I was one who won both of those awards, one for my short sci-fi story “905” and another for my poem “The Armchair Critic in My Head.”
It was in late December when I sent in my poem and short story. I had previously sent a different short stories during the 2024 competition, but it didn’t end up getting picked. So, needless to say, I was a little skeptical that my other short story would get picked. I sent in both works. I figured that I’d have a better chance at being a winner if I had two works within the contest. So, I submitted the forms and works in an email and waited.
Fast forward to February, and it was Friday night. I was sitting in the living room, watching a movie when my mom started reading out a text message she had gotten. It notified us that I was a winner for the Tucson Festival of Books Young Authors Contest and that both of my works had won. This came as a shock, because, like stated before, I wasn’t really expecting either of my works to get picked.
This was a fun and exciting contest to compete in. Of course, it will also be nerve wrecking given that, at the time of writing this, there are 18 days till the award ceremony. But this was definitely a great way to get my work out there and to also get a jumpstart on writing professionally.
The 2026 Young Authors Contest Winners are: Ariel Singerman, Ventana Vista; Emmeline Knapp, Fruchthendler; Ezra Raney, Fruchthendler; Tomi Marcus, Legacy NW (story and poem); Maven Keele, Academy of Tucson; Lily Polk, Homeschool (story and poem); Elizabeth Gonzales, Ironwood Elementary (story and poem); Declan Riches, Emily Gray Jr High; Yunming Ray Chan, Dodge Traditional Magnet; Aaron Li, BASIS Oro Valley; Raina Pike, Cross Middle School (story and poem); Aliana Vargas, a summer library contest winner; Jenisha Timsina, BASIS Tucson North; Ysrael Hernandez, ASU Digital Prep (story and poem); Alyssa Lemire, Andrade Polytech (story and poem), and Brielle J. Hass, Ironwood Ridge High School.
Other poetry winners are: Leon Ariza, Safford K–8; Tobi Marcus, Legacy Traditional NW; Kenya Patino, University High School, and Emma Kokes, Tanque Verde High School.
The winner’s ceremony will be held on March 14 at 10 a.m. on the TFOB main stage. This year’s speaker is illustrator and author Adam Rex. Anthologies, which include the short stories and poems, and also the Young Artists Contest winners, may be purchased at the festival main stage at 9:45 before the winner’s ceremony.
The Young Authors Contest includes a summer writing contest, in conjunction with the library’s summer program. Summer winners are automatically entered into the main competition for the $100 UA Campus Store gift certificates.