Wild Women Story Contest
(Spring/Summer issue)
Deadline: March 8 (International Women's Day)
Release (UPDATED): May 22
2026 Grand Prize winner
Fallout by Jill Logan
2026 honorable mentions/contributors
in progress…
15 by Layne Morsberger
A Modest Marriage Proposal by Piper Huguley
A Smack of Jellyfish by Amy Branson
Absolutely Angry Black Woman by Ọlaọcha Nwadiuto Nwabara
Coffee Break by Mary Arguelles
Eclipse by Gaea Bailey
Edge of Elegy by Jenna A. Smith
Everybody’s Got Their Burdens by Shanteé Felix
Fiddler (Ocypode quadrata) by Kiersten Hackman
Genesis: In the Beginning Was the Garden of Goddess and Gorgon by Naomi Mac Millan
Hair. See. Me. by Shirlene Evans Bridgewater
I Am That Girl by Amy Lyn
Lot’s Wife, Apocrypha by Janna Urschel
Mother of All the Living by Gabrielle Lang
Pig Killing by Sally K Lehman
ricotta cheese by Tara Zafft
Self-Portrait, Unframed by Ira Batra Garde
Sophia by Kimberly Kling
Take Me by Bonnie Ratner
The Willow by Katie Lee Swaim
These Foolish Things by David Collins
To Mom from Her CODA Son by R. H. Miller
To my hippie boyfriend from 1971 after he reminded me that I slept with his best friend
by Jan Worth
To the men who wish we were more casual by Hillary Frances
Well-Rounded Women by Dawn Raftery
What Survives a Promise by Taylor McHugh
Where the Wild Begins Again by Dejah-Thoris Waite
2026 Semifinalists
15 by Layne Morsberger
A Bed for Two by Holly Starley
A Compliment, Apparently by Rilye Alexandra Fries
A Girl’s Guide to Grace by Doug Lane
A Modest Marriage Proposal by Piper Huguley
A Singular Vulnerability by Dipika Mukherjee
A Smack of Jellyfish by Amy Branson
A True Account of Talking to a Tree from My Bedroom Window by Maria Massei-Rosato
A Whimper or a Bang by Susan Lott
Absolutely Angry Black Woman by Ọlaọcha Nwadiuto Nwabara
Activist by Brian Donnell James
American Lonely by Alison Townsend
An Ode to Diane by Teddy Lecornu
Ars Poetica by Thena Westfall
At Sea by Meryl Stratford
Cayenne Feather by Robin Rae
Coffee Break by Mary Arguelles
Come, my friends, ’tis not too late to find another world by Marcy Rae Henry
Coming Storms by Jude Rittenhouse
Confessions by Janet Marstine
Crepe Myrtle by MJ Simmering
Crone, Corona, Crown: Reclamation by Bonnie Ratner
Dandelions by Anne Cognato
Danny, Me, and Clint Eastwood by Ann Voorhees Baker
Dig by Kathy Lenney
Dogmoon (Phases) by Holly Marie Moore
Eclipse by Gaea Bailey
Edge of Elegy by Jenna A. Smith
Entrails of a Letter the 23-Year-Old Me Wrote and Should Have Mailed to the One-Night Stand That Lasted Six Months Who Said He Wanted Me to Have His Baby Instead of Emailing It to Him When He Was Almost 81 by Jocelyn Ruth Kaye
Ethereal Blueprint by Karen Bennett
Everybody’s Got Their Burdens by Shanteé Felix
EZ Pass by Debbie Benson
Fallout by Jill Logan
Fiddler (Ocypode quadrata) by Kiersten Hackman
Fierce Fiery Motherhood by Kristin Bonser
First Flight by Maria Massei-Rosato
Genesis: In the Beginning Was the Garden of Goddess and Gorgon by Naomi Mac Millan
The Wildest Million Dollar Voice from the Nobel Literature Stage by Pam Fox
Greeting the Visitors by Kathryn Jordan
Hair. See. Me. by Shirlene Evans Bridgewater
Hanna by Pamela Redcliff
Healing by Veronica Bernacchi
Hiking San Pedro in Guatemala by Jacqueline Sheehan
Hitchhiking by Rafaella Del Bourgo
Hunger by Carol Graf Snyder
Hunter’s Moon, 1753 by Maryanne Moon Boyen
Hypothermia. by Yuting Grace Gong
I Am That Girl by Amy Lyn
Incorrigible Women by Shaheen Dil
Indigenous Peoples’ Weekend by Dewaine Farria
Introduction by Shakti Io Anderson
La Gioconda by Deborah L. Levine
La La La by Nika Cavat
Ladybug by Madalyn L. Rockwell
Lot’s Wife, Apocrypha by Janna Urschel
Mama, and the Number One Jig-a-Jig Scandal by Warren Blake
Maternity Leave by Ira Batra Garde
Mother of All the Living by Gabrielle Lang
My Angry, Hard, Workhorse Hope by Mikaela Dunitz
My New York Experience by Theresa Wanta
My Wild Woman Challenge by Libby Kowalski
New Tricks for the Oldest Trick in the Book by Raziela Orlinat
No One’s Standard Beauty by Claire Frankel
Off the Meds by Gabrielle Lang
Peska by Ashley Berry
Pig Killing by Sally K Lehman
Progression in Three Parts by Joanne Gram
Queen of the Jewish Pirates by Neil Weiner
Radiant Dream by Alitsa Setian
Redemption, Eighth Grade by Mercer Warriner
ricotta cheese by Tara Zafft
Rights and Leftists by Claire Jolley
Second Chance at Desire by Susan Reid
Self Portrait at Synaptic Junction by Jenna A. Smith
Self-Portrait, Unframed by Ira Batra Garde
Shall We Not Revenge? by Jolene Whitten
Small Talk: Variations on a Theme by Jane Rothschild
Snort-Laughing with My Friends by Christy Schwan
Something Primal by Faye Srala
Sophia by Kimberly Kling
Soul Level Real Estate by Alyssa Miller
Take Me by Bonnie Ratner
Tamazunchale by Bob Ross
Tell Me About Despair by Janet Ruth
The Art of Receptivity by Jennifer Miller
The Bowl That Belonged to My Mother’s Mother by Mack Karbon
The Brave Woman by Sally Cobau
The Girl I Leave Behind by Rilye Alexandra Fries
The Light of the Dark, Black Night by Mallory Decker
The Remembering by Mary Allison
The Stepmother’s Defense by P. Jo Anne Burgh
The Weight I Put Down by Morgan Price
The Wild Heart That Wins Out by Hannah Eubank
The Willow by Katie Lee Swaim
The Women the World Fears by Kate Barden
These Foolish Things by David Collins
To Mom from Her CODA Son by R. H. Miller
To my hippie boyfriend from 1971 after he reminded me that I slept with his best friend
by Jan Worth
To the men who wish we were more casual by Hillary Frances
Well-Rounded Women by Dawn Raftery
What I Had in Me by Charles Grosel
What Survives a Promise by Taylor McHugh
What Wild Women Really Want by Lisa Reidy Harter
Where the Wild Begins Again by Dejah-Thoris Waite
Wisdom of the Old by Eman A.E.
Year of the Snake by Megan Jade Mock Noble
This contest is based on the radical idea that history and the present moment are not (cannot be) just a series of wars and domination—destruction.
The creative life force carried forward through the millennia, frankly, does not get enough appreciation, and the creative force and the Wild are innate in the Feminine spirit.
We are looking for empowering stories (written by anyone) whose main characters embody the Wild Woman spirit.
We want stories about finding the Wild, reclaiming the Wild, experiencing the Wild, being the Wild, staying Wild. We especially love stories about the ways women use their power to create and shape the world, and stories about discovering—or remembering—this power in the first place.
Stories can be fiction, nonfiction, or poetry—as usual, if it tells a story, it fits!
Click here to return to the Guidelines page and to enter.
*****
All around the world, women are stepping forward
to invite back their authentic, creative,
wonderfully unique selves.
We are shedding the old, faded clothes of war,
domination, competition, jealousy, and repression.
We are rising like the sun, shining big and bright as the full moon. We are saying yes to the power of fierce love, compassion, constant authenticity, and vulnerability.
—HeatherAsh Amara
