New Millennium Writing Awards 53 | 2022
First Place Winners, Finalists, and Honorable Mentions of the 53rd New Millennium Writing Awards!
Nonfiction
Bird Rearing During a Pandemic | Melanie Hoffert
52nd NMW Award for Nonfiction.
Melanie Hoffert of Battle Lake, Minnesota for “Bird Rearing During a Pandemic,”
In times of turmoil, when threats loom both externally and all-too-internally, what good can it possibly do to rescue one tiny beating heart? As Hoffert’s essay so marvelously reminds us, sometimes our own heart gets rescued too.
Memory Animal | Chris Siteman
51st NMW Award for Nonfiction.
Chris Siteman of Brookline, Massachusetts for “Memory Animal,”
Just in time for Halloween, Siteman’s essay is a taut and creeping tale, with ghosts lurking in every corner.
Learning to Die and Live | Yannick Thoraval
50th NMW Award for Nonfiction.
Yannick Thoraval of Victoria, Australia for “Learning to Die and Live: 24 Hours in Evacuation”
A taut and measured journey through disaster. In its brevity, this essay perfectly captures how quickly daily life can morph into surreal nightmare.
Pale Shepherd | JR Boudreau
First Place | Nonfiction Writing Contest XLIX 49TH NEW MILLENNIUM AWARD FOR NONFICTION JR Boudreau of Ontario, Canada for “Pale Shepherd” Boudreau will receive $1,000, a plaque to …
Gracias a la Vida | Laura Rose
48th New Millennium Award for Nonfiction
Laura Rose of Bucks County, Pennsylvania for “Gracias a la Vida”
A heartfelt essay about the author’s journey into grassroots activism, “Gracias a la Vida” is a crystal-clear reminder that the personal is always political.
Disappeared | Kristin Kostick
New Millennium Writings’ 2019 Editor’s Choice Award
Kristin Kostick of Houston, Texas for “Disappeared”
In Search of Leo | John Baskin
47th New Millennium Award for Nonfiction
John Baskin of Wilmington, Ohio for “In Search of Leo”
Embarking on a pilgrimage to honor a dear friend and mentor, Baskin travels the French countryside to learn more about the dark time and place that twice nearly took his friend’s life. A brilliant, thoughtful, and important essay.
Blanking | Kristin Kostick
New Millennium Award for Nonfiction
Kristin Kostick of Houston, Texas for “Blanking”
Who among us hasn’t yearned for a clean slate? Some way to shed all the old hurts and regrets and begin again, fresh and unencumbered as a newborn soul. In “Blanking,” Kristin ponders the power and possible advantages of self-deception.
False Memory | Marsh Rose
What if one day you discover you’ve been wrong about your own life story? Marsh Rose reveals the secrets that, for nearly 30 years, her mind tried to protect her from, reminding us of our uncanny ability to rewrite the past. —NMW