Congratulations to the winners of our YANovCon 2024 Teen Short Story Contest! This year’s theme “To Be You: Identity in the Age of Censorship,” inspired incredible contributions from our talented teen authors. Thank you to all our amazing teen authors who shared stories of their perspectives on the intersection of identity and censorship.
2024 Winners
First Place – Alyssa C., South San Francisco, for A Forever Changing Path: A Short Novel in Verse
Second Place – Mia K., Menlo Park, for Crying in a Synthetic Silence
Third Place – Hurett S., South San Francisco, for The Five Stages of Coming Out
We look forward to reading everyone’s stories for YANovCon 2025! Keep an eye out for updates on next year's event.
Check out this year's winning submission below!
A Forever Changing Path: A Short Novel in Verse by Alyssa C.
"There’s a gap, a hole in my heart, an empty space in my mind
What can I do to fill it?
Where’s my closure?
I threw out all those memories
I gave away all the clothes you said looked good on me
I tried to erase the person you turned me into
I did all that work
I wrote all those poems
Did it help?
A little bit
But not enough
In this year, at this age
We’re supposed to know who we are
What path we’re going to take, what future we want
And honestly, I did know
Until I drove into a barrier
A blockade in my path
I changed my hair
My clothing style
My voice
I changed me
Then that boundary was moved
And my path was clear
But remnants of that wall
Dug holes in my mind and my heart
I tried to fill those gaps
Stitch back together those cuts
But all that work
Just left bigger scars
And it's been two years
Since you left
And I’m still healing
Still fixing the broken cracks you left
Now my style is my own
My voice is mine
But I’ve lost my path
And I’m still looking for the right road
So when people ask nowadays
What are you going to do with your life?
Where is your future going to take you?
Who are you?
I can’t answer their questions
Not truthfully at least
And I know that so many others my age
Feel the same way"
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