by Monica Heiss Honorable Mention, Prose, Create | Encounter 2025 The world cries out in anguish. Does anybody hear it? The night is silent as I scroll through social media watching random videos. Bored, I keep swiping up, until an image of gore fills my screen. "A victim of abortion"  the caption reads. Disturbed, I block the account that shared it and keep scrolling. The morning is cold. I stir my coffee and make my breakfast. The image from last night flashes through my mi

by Eugene Wynyard Honorable Mention, Prose, Create | Encounter 2025 Hello Mercedes, ​ My name is Eugene. I am your biological father. ​ You were never born, and I never held you—but I carry you now, in a way I didn’t understand back then. I don’t know if you knew I existed. I don’t know if you searched for me. But I know this: you were real. You mattered. And you still do. I was born in Rotorua, New Zealand, and grew up in the Bay Of Plenty—places where the waves rolled in li

By Haley Hartsfield Spencer 1st Place, Visual (2D), Create | Encounter 2024 Artist Statement: This piece is layered with human tragedy...

By N.C. Krueger 1st Place, Poetry, Create | Encounter 2024    Death has lost his honor— no one mourns terrorists, or tissue, or blobs of...

By Christine Novelero 1t Place, Prose, Create | Encounter 2024 “Look! An artist made this beautiful picture of Harriet! Her eye is open!...

By Michael J. 2nd Place, Visual (2D), Create | Encounter 2024 Artist Statement: In Untitled (Your body is a battleground) (1989), Barbara...

By N.C. Krueger 2nd Place, Poetry, Create | Encounter 2024        I. God is jealous, and His Heat is dread to those who despise what He...

By Anti Abortion Vandals Honorable Mention, Visual (2D), Create | Encounter 2024 Artist Statement: The abortion industry and our elected...

By Sarah Terzo Honorable Mention, Poetry, Create | Encounter 2024 On battlefields in the New World bodies lie among the refuse. Tied up...

By N.C. Krueger 2nd Place, Prose, Create | Encounter 2024 The ghostly light from the six computer screens envelops us, turning our...

By Zaina Alam Piya Honorable Mention, Visual (2D), Create | Encounter 2024 Artist Statement: In this artwork I tried to express the...

By Aimee Murphy Honorable Mention, Poetry, Create | Encounter 2024 "hate has no home here" Okay, well that's all well and good to say But...

By Sara Leonard Honorable Mention, Prose, Create | Encounter 2024 Harriet walks home, late one night. Tired and worn from a day of work...

By Elise Ketch Honorable Mention, Visual (2D), Create | Encounter 2024 Artist Statement: In a world beyond abortion, a promise to stick...

By Sarah Terzo Honorable Mention, Prose, Create | Encounter 2024 Recess was over, and, as always, Kelly was first in her seat. The...

By Aimee Murphy Honorable Mention, Poetry, Create | Encounter 2024 A cell block for these “clumps of cells;” I guess it’s fitting, in a...

By Sara Leonard 1st Place, Visual (3D), Create | Encounter 2024 Artist Statement: This artwork is a 3D sculpture and models of the first...

By Nick Sansone 1st Place, Short Film, Create | Encounter Artist Statement: This short film, based on the script that was an Honorable...

By Helene Ryles Honorable Mention, Prose, Create | Encounter 2024 Since my twin sister Minerva went into a coma and my life had taken on...

By Michael Forrest 1st Place, Music, Create | Encounter Artist Statement: I used to be pro-choice (although never radically so) until I...