The very first blog post on this website was dedicated to the results of the Writer’s Digest 89th Annual Writing Competition—in our first year, we beat over 4,000 entries to place second in the genre category. And in the years since, we’ve won prizes in this contest another three times, including an additional runner-up accolade. This year, things went a little bit differently. We didn’t place second—we won.

Jennifer’s short story “Stranger” is the first place winner in the genre category of the Writer’s Digest 92nd Annual Writing Competition! In the story, a woman with prosopagnosia (also known as face-blindness) is the only witness to a burglary, and must resolve her complicated feelings about the event as she navigates a stressful breakup.

Another story, “Nest Egg” was also awarded fourth place in the competition! Nest Egg is a cozy mystery about the aftermath of a suspicious murder at Washington DC’s National Arboretum, which dovetails with a series of rare seeds going missing within the park’s herbarium.

“Stranger” is available to read here on writersdigest.com! The entire list of winners across all categories is on this page. Over 3,000 entries were submitted to the 2023 competition, so to place so highly is such an honor. As now six-time prizewinners of this contest, we can attest to how wonderful WD is to work with, and with any luck, next year will be just as successful! Anyone interested in entering the 93rd Annual Writing Competition can find information about deadlines and entry procedures here.

Here are the opening lines of the award-winning short story:

The man dressed in blue told me to wait outside the store. Bits of broken glass were scattered across the sidewalk, what was left of the front window. A table pushed up against it stood empty. I could hear the whir of a standing fan through the smashed window, feel its breeze whenever it spun in my direction. The pawn shop was in an old building, and didn’t have central air.

“You need to move along, ma’am.” The man had come back outside, and waved dismissively at me. “This is a crime scene, and I need to clear the area.”

I turned to face him, careful of the glass. “But you just told me to wait right here…?” We stared at each other in mutual confusion for a moment. “Unless you didn’t.”

Read the rest on Writer’s Digest.