Friends of Coal Creek, in partnership with Louisville Public Library, is pleased to celebrate the winners of the 2023 Teen Short Story Contest. This year’s theme was Nature, and participants were encouraged to “take a walk down Coal Creek Trail, observe the creek and the land around it, and let a story come to you.” Librarian Jessica Schwartz has been running this contest for the past five years. “While I’m always impressed with the submissions,” she says, “this year I was absolutely blown away by the quality of the manuscripts. I’m so grateful that our partnership with FoCC brought more attention to our talented young writers, and allowed us to award them more substantially.”

“Great writing, tough choices,” agrees FoCC Writer-in-Residence Manette Ansay, who served as a contest judge along with Jessica Schwartz and Daniel Tate (and tie-breakers Jeffrey Schwartz, Peggy Norris, Alex Luberger and Gina Berry.) Winners received gift cards to The Read Queen Bookstore and Cafe, and their stories—along with their inspirations—are shared below. You, too, will be blown away!

(Winners are listed in alphabetical order)

The Railroad Garden by Paloma Davol

Teaser “The garden has given me something I didn’t know I had in me. A self-confidence knowing that I am good for something and that I am capable of doing something useful. As well as helping those plants, I helped myself. I found myself.”

Judge’s Comment Beautifully imagined and richly detailed, this story follows a girl, her garden and her joyful dogs–so wonderfully described–through a cycle of seasons and changes. I tasted the cherry tomatoes, the ground cherries, the peaches and cream pie.

Author’s Note At my house, my mom, sister and I have a garden in our backyard. We grow tomatoes, ground cherries, lemon cucumbers, many different flowers, and so much more. I do soccer, cross country skiing, and biathlon. I like to draw, read, and go on hikes and bike rides with my family. I also really like to go camping. I imagine myself in 10 years being a professional athlete.

The Heart of the Sand by Riley K. Martin

Riley K. Martin (photo by Jeff Goldberg)

Teaser You sit on the bed that you fashioned from some old sacks that once held root vegetables. You pry up the floorboard at your feet and pull out the last of the ancient potatoes that you found in the sacks. After cutting the potato open with a rusty spoon you found in the dirt, you begin to eat.

Judge’s Comment The author’s use of second person thrusts the reader into a post-apocalyptic world in which scavenging children communicate with their hands. Led by the story’s protagonist, they are key to a process of healing that draws on the earth’s deepest strengths. I admired the author’s world-building skills and attention to small details.

Author’s Note My writing process is very scattered, I carry a notebook around with me everywhere I go, so when I think or hear something that might make a good story, title, or piece of dialogue, I write it down. For this particular story, once I figured out that I wanted to share my belief of everyone being connected to everything, I let ideas roll around in my head, and then about a week later I started working on putting the ideas together into a story. Right now my interests include chess, writing, swimming, quilting, and learning about the stars. In ten years, I see myself as an astrophysicist who uses writing to explain science and the stars to people.

Speak by Sarah Renton-Mendoza

Sarah Renton-Mendoza (photo by Jeff Goldberg)

Teaser “She ran their stories through her fingers like pearls, wrapped them about her shoulders like a shawl, like a pair of wings.”

Judge’s Comment Intensely lyrical writing, original concrete imagery, and the use of refrain (“Tell me a story”) create a compelling, call-and-response between an unidentified girl and an Eden-like world scarred by change. This story reads like a poem, a song, an incantation, a prophecy.

Author’s Note Speak was inspired mostly by current events. In the aftermath of the pandemic, it seems so much easier to see into the darker, more broken parts of things, the corruption of family, nature, and art. But people notice, and, as people are apt to do, they speak. Right now, I’m most interested in literature, art, and making it through my last year of middle school unscathed. I really have no clue where I’m going to be in ten years- hopefully somewhere that makes me happy, and somewhere that I can speak up about the things I’m passionate about.

Accessories to Murder by Vaamiki Satrasala

Teaser Weeds. . . perfectly good edible plants, just in what we consider the wrong place. Dandelions and mugwort, horsetail and mallow, all medicinal and edible and weedily whacked. When did we begin to see them as unnatural pests in our royal domains?

Judge’s Comment An insightful and original montage of anecdotes, reflections and literary commentary by a talented writer with a terrific ear for language and a sharp, ironic eye.

Author’s Note I took a college composition course this summer where the overarching theme was nature- it inspired this montage. A part of my murder story analyzed texts that caged nature within words; that part was rigorously structured, creating a corpse, analytically rigid and toneless. The reminiscent and experiential bits surrounding it were rambling, flowing, they felt natural to me, a sort of stream-of-consciousness blabbering. The contrast was ironic, the very point of this murder story was reflected in its structure, the natural turned unnatural.

I'm nearly fifteen, and solitary. I like to draw, I like to play videogames, I like to carve wood, sometimes I play my sax and cello, read fanfic and watch anime or go 20 hours straight cataloging a language into a spreadsheet that I won't touch again for a year. Forever half-hyper, half dead, asnuggled in bed.

Dans Le Ciel by Charlotte Seguin-Franklin

Teaser “I begin to notice the little streaks of bright red feathers on the wings and the bronze feathers on its neck. Then the bird opens its wings and glides over to the small table in the corner of the patio. As it flies, I am able to catch a glimpse of the rosy pink on its belly. It is a Brown-Capped Rosy Finch. Mamie’s favorite bird.”

Judge’s Comment A resonant, technically complex story that transitions smoothly between present narrative, flashback, narrative summary and reflection. I admired the integration of French and the specificity of the story’s central metaphor–not just any bird, but a Brown-Capped Rosy Finch! Adding to the story’s technical sophistication is its awareness of scene (Mamie’s house with its “colorful paintings” and “carpeted stairs”) and its development of multiple characters.

Author’s Note I wrote Dans Le Ciel as a way to remember my Mamie who passed away this summer from cancer. My interests right now include writing, hiking with my family, and painting. In ten years I imagine myself traveling the world and experiencing different cultures.

Alone But Not On My Own by Abigail Vandrey

Abigail Vandrey (photo by Jeff Goldberg)

Teaser I talk to the trees. I tell them everything. My tears water their twisting roots, and my words are entangled in their branches. My secrets are held in every leaf. Sometimes they fall off, forgotten.

Judge’s Comment A moving reflection on the solace of nature during a time of loss and despair, written simply, directly, effectively and with a great deal of heart and care.

Author’s Note Part of my story’s inspiration was a meadow in the mountains that my dad and I drive by. My interests right now are reading and music. In 10 years I hope to be a part of the New York Philharmonic.

Winners of the 2023 Louisville Library Teen Writing Contest