We were blown away by the depth, heart, and creativity in this year’s entries. Thank you to everyone who shared your stories with us, it was a joy to read them. After a lot of careful thought (and some tough decisions), we’re excited to announce our top three winners:
First Place: “It’s Hard to Explain” by Anya Sytenkova
Second Place: “Nothing, Everywhere” by Naomi Fina
Third Place: “The Fulu’s Fire” by Owen Xu
Please read comments from our external judge!
“It’s Hard to Explain”
This essay transported me to the author’s beloved Siberia in what reads like a testament to the power of memory and place. Through vivid, immersive descriptions, the reader visits a childhood that feels both enchanted and quotidian. The narrative rhythm is effective, weaving between the past and present, joy and grief, explanation and resignation. The refrain, “It’s hard to explain” as a motif reflects not just a language barrier, but cultural and emotional barriers—a device that underscores the isolating experience of being shaped by two very different worlds. The final scene with the baby birds felt like a metaphor; calling out to a world that cannot, or will not, respond. As it follows the section that refers to a devastating war, it lands with an emotional punch. I appreciated that the essay doesn’t dip into melodrama but trusts the reader to feel the grief of loss via precise and fond descriptions of a faraway world that has slipped out of the author’s grasp but remains firmly in their heart. This piece stayed with me.
“Nothing, Everywhere”
I found this essay beautifully written. As a piece of travel writing, it is unexpectedly emotional. The author’s voice—clear, introspective, and compassionate—takes the reader on his family’s journey to Twin Falls, but also on a journey back in history in what becomes a meditation on memory and intergenerational resilience in the face of collective trauma. I particularly liked how the author connected the impact of this traumatic chapter in the nation’s history to themselves, their family, and an entire population of people—by using a narrow, then wider, and wider still lens, while staying rooted the entire time in this small, hot town. Evocations of bleached prairie grass, barbed wire fencing, and the “soft buzz of mosquitoes” made the landscape feel almost menacing, as it must have felt to the people involuntarily forced onto that barren land decades ago. Although the bond between the author and the grandmother is profoundly moving, I appreciated the lack of sentimentality: silence, subtle gestures, and descriptions of quiet resistance were used effectively to convey the emotional weight of the moment. I was expanded by this essay.
“The Fulu’s Fire”
A sensory, introspective, and culturally layered essay. I was immersed from the opening paragraph in a vivid scene: incense smoke curling, fruit and flowers arranged with care, intricate wood carvings, and red lights illuminating religious icons. The imagery is lush and places the reader squarely in the environment by evoking smells, textures, and colors. I liked that the author integrated the external (traveling to the spiritual blesser’s home, to the U.S., to a psychiatric hospital, into the woods) with the internal (curiosity, doubt, spiritual awakening, cultural dissonance)—a personal journey where geography becomes a mirror for self-discovery.
A special thank you and shoutout goes to the CGRS Travel Writing Contest sponsors: Cross-Cultural Studies, Dean of Students, Off-Campus Studies, The Center for Global and Regional Studies, and The Writing Center!