Announcing the Winners of the 2025 Randall Albers Young Writers Awards
Congratulations to our our prize-winning student authors. Our judges have evaluated nearly 150 submissions and selected four place winners and two honorable mentions in each category, poetry and prose. Thanks to each and every student who participated. In this, the third year, the quality of submissions was better than ever. The evaluation process was difficult and nuanced; there were many, many worthy submissions.
Poetry
1st Place: Oluwatomi Ogundimu, “Sundance // Opulence”
2nd Place: Emma Keating, “Beneath the Surface”
3rd Place: Ashra Roshy, “Know Me, the Ugly Girl”
4th Place: Parker Koehler, “What the Tea Leaves Tell Us”
Poetry, Honorable Mentions (in no particular order)
Simon Archer, “Blue Swallow of Hope”
Bodhi Haines, “Gumbo”
Prose
1st Place: Ivy Lefebvre, “Directions”
2nd Place: Fiona Gin, “L’Hôpital’s Rule”
3rd Place: Lucinda De Maio, “Tail of a Frog”
4th Place: Lucille Hachtel, “In the Modern World”
Prose, Honorable Mentions (in no particular order)
Prabha Santosh, “Everything Comes to Be”
Destiny Sacluti, “Rising from Setbacks”
Please join us to celebrate these young authors at our awards ceremony on Saturday, May 17 at the Harold Washington Library Center. (400 S. State Street, Chicago, IL). The program begins at 2 p.m. Refreshments will be served after the presentations and readings. The program is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
Travelers in the Mist: A Celebration of Poet Elise Paschen
Friday, April 11, 2025
Independent Bookstore Day 2025
Saturday, April 26, 2025
Film Screening of Mary Livoni’s Adaptation of Stuart Dybek’s The Apprentice
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
2025 Randall Albers Young Writers Award
Saturday, May 17, 2025
Celebrating Chicago’s Asian American Literary Community: A Zoom Reading
Thursday, May 29, 2025
Uptown Literary Walking Tour
Saturday, June 28, 2025
2025 Chicago Literary Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Saturday, July 12, 2025
Printers Row Lit Fest 2025
Saturday, September 6 and Sunday, September 7
Booking with Chicago Authors
Thursday, September 11, 2025
Nuestros Corazones Literarios (Our Literary Hearts): A Latin Chicago Writers Showcase
Thursday, October 2, 2025
2025 Fuller Award Ceremony for Jackie Taylor
Monday, October 20, 2025