2025 Cascade Writing Contest Winners

ARTICLE, COLUMN, NONFICTION SHORT STORY

First Place
Becky Alexander
“A Little Help from JFK”

Second Place
Cecil Taylor
“The Baby Is Stronger Than Anyone Knows”

DEVOTIONAL

First Place
Barbara Culley
“Numbering Our Days”

Second Place
Laurie Allred Boyd
“In All Things”

FICTION SHORT STORY

First Place
Jackie Melvin
“Forever Person”

Second Place
Rick Taylor
“Just a Potter’s Daughter”

POETRY

First Place
Kathleen R. Ruckman
“My Father’s Whistle”

Second Place
Rick Taylor
“New Prince, Old Story”

CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOK

First Place
Jennifer Noel Wilson & Kristin Faith Evans
The Special Gifts

Second Place
Robin Currie
Noah Has a Good Day (and a Bad Day)

CHILDREN’S CHAPTER BOOK

First Place
Kristen Joy Wilks
Phooey Kerflooey vs The Deep, Deep Dark

Second Place
Melissa Ruhter
The Mystery at Fox Mansion

NONFICTION BOOK

First Place
Mark Wainwright
Writing Christian Fiction

Second Place
Kelsey Gjesdal
Mindset: Learning to Live with the Mind of Christ

MEMOIR BOOK

First Place
Nancy Beck Irland
Grief Is Labor: A Midwife Describes Grief Recovery

Second Place
Kimberly Bird
Stones of Remembrance

CONTEMPORARY FICTION BOOK

First Place
Ginni Kennedy
Escape of the Innocent

Second Place
Renee L Gentry
A Thread of Faith

HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK

First Place
Melody Roberts
The Hope of Woodland Hall

Second Place
Stephanie Julia Gibson
No Good Shepherd

SPECULATIVE FICTION BOOK

First Place
Colleen Hall
Her Phantom Knight

Second Place
Julia N. White
The White Raven

MIDDLE GRADE BOOK

First Place
Sonja Anderson
Blossoms in the Wind

Second Place
Abigail Skelton
Mission Danger

YOUNG ADULT BOOK

First Place
Stacsia Crossan
Liberty

Second Place
Mark Wainwright
Adrift

HIGH SCORE OVERALL

Memoir Book
Nancy Beck Irland
Grief Is Labor: A Midwife Describes Grief Recovery