We are pleased to announce the results of the 2025 Golden Quill Writing Contest.

Thank you to our 2025 judges: Juliet McDaniel (fiction), Deanne Stillman (nonfiction), and Caleb Nichols (poetry), and congratulations to our 2025 winners, listed below. Thanks to the success of last year’s contest, we were able to expand this year’s contest to award winners in first, second, and third places, as well as to increase the prize money. All winners will be published in the 2025 issue of The NightWriter Review, and all entries are considered for publication.

The Golden Quill Writing Contest is sponsored by the San Luis Obispo NightWriters (“SLO NightWriters”), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission of nurturing the Central Coast writing community and providing writing education, opportunities, resources, workshops, and scholarships. The goal of the Golden Quill Writing Contest is to discover and amplify voices in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, and the contest is an annual fundraiser for the organization.

2025 Golden Quill Writing Contest Results

Fiction

First Place: “The Amateur’s Guide to Renovating Your Haunted House” by Molly Powers

Second Place: “Eating in Darkness” by Bobby Sorensen

Third Place: “Give Me Liberty … Or, At Least ‘Plan C'” by Zaslow Crane

Creative Nonfiction

First Place: “Mardi Gras” by Rob Rogers

Second Place: “Navigating Mauretania” by Dawn Smith

Third Place (tie):

“Risky Rewards” by Dean Thompson

“Moth to a Flame” by Katy Bonello

Poetry

First place: “To Vulnerability” by Carolyn Chilton

Second place: “Through the Desert” by Emily Niebuhr

Third place: “Is This His Way of Counting Coup?” by Andréa Gannon