While sifting through nearly 350 entries in this year’s Pasatiempo Writing Contest, one thing became clear: Santa Fe — and New Mexico — fosters a strong community of writers.
2023 Writing Contest
Grand Prize Winner
Ms. Esther’s Cottonwood by Amber Train took the top honor in this year's Pasatiempo Writing Contest.
2023 Writing Contest
Meet the judges
After the Pasatiempo staff narrowed down the entries, our esteemed panel of judges — Kim Parko, James McGrath Morris, Hakim Bellamy, and Stephen P. Hull — had the difficult job of selecting the winners.
2023 Writing Contest
Winners in the fiction category
Daisy Gorman-Nichols, Shannon Kilgore, and Janna Lopez captured the top honors in the fiction category of the 2023 Pasatiempo Writing Contest
2023 Writing Contest
Winners in the nonfiction category
Top honors in the nonfiction category of the 2023 Pasatiempo Writing Contest go to Lisa Davenport, Kevin McCullough, and Charles Smith.
2023 Writing Contest
Poetry category winners
Poets Vance Couperus, Carmen Baca, and Isabel Contreras earned the top honors in the poetry category of the 2023 Pasatiempo Writing Contest.
2023 Writing Contest
Youth Writer Prizes in fiction
Luke Garcia, Stella S. Counsell, Seth Abes, and Lola Wetzel are recognized for their works of fiction in the youth category of the 2023 Pasatiempo Writing Contest.
2023 Writing Contest
Youth Writer Prizes in poetry
Lila Adeyemo, Khloe Clark, Ayla Hitt, Helena Merlino, and Aerin Zone impressed the judges with their entries in the youth poetry category of the 2023 Pasatiempo Writing Contest.
2023 Writing Contest
Youth Writer Prize in nonfiction
Juliette Anderson garnered praise for her work in the youth nonfiction category of the 2023 Pasatiempo Writing Contest.
Editor's Note
A writer's best friend
The Pasatiempo writing contest unleashed a flurry of creativity from the local community that gave this reader a new lay of the land.
Jennifer Edelson, Shannon Kilgore, and Greg Wagner captured the top spots in the Adult Fiction category.
Juliette Grace May Anderson, Chloe Stengel, and Zeke McMillan impressed the judges in the Youth Fiction category of the 2021 Writing Contest.
Michael Reid, Pamela Christie and Dave Jones notched top honors in this category.
Juliette Grace May Anderson owns the Youth Memoir category in this year's contest.
In the Adult Poetry category, works by Aaron Rudolph, Eleanor Channell, and Beate Sigriddaughter were the judge's favorites.
Writers from all over Northern New Mexico offered up their efforts in more than 150 entries in the 2021 Pasatiempo Writing Contest.
Patrick Mehaffey, Daniel Donoghue, and Gregory Coplans captured the top spots in the fiction category.
Memoirs by Eleanor Channell, George Bereschik and Rachel Sue Stofocik notched top honors in this category.
In the Adult Poetry category, works by Elmo Mondragon, Kay Yanda, and Ann Turpin were the judge's favorites.
Teen poets Sasha Smucker, Helena Merlino, and Christopher Tenorio impressed the judges in the Youth Poetry category of the 2021 Writing Contest.