by Natalia Recinos Chang Honorable Mention, 2D Visual Art, Create | Encounter 2025 Artist Statement: My work is a calligraphic portrait of Yeonmi Park, a North Korean defector and human rights activist. The portrait is composed using the text (instead of lines) from her speech at the Oslo Freedom Forum and the One Young World Summit, where she implores the world to raise awareness about the ongoing human rights crisis in North Korea. Through her native clothing and a heart bu

by Oladejo Abdullah Feranmi 1st Place, Poetry, Create | Encounter 2025 Like every traveller with eyes that swallow and feet that flee. How the truth, with its infant fingers, clasps our hands— until its prints remain; bones folded into smaller boxes. How beautifully we open. And how we don’t— a tear inside the mouth becomes a new tongue, then another face, then another. The broader arms of lies swoop us from the earth, in case we forget how falling felt— the season arrives ei

by Elizabeth Jennings 2nd Place, Poetry, Create | Encounter 2025 Here we are Earthworms, cut in two, Growing back to root forward; Skyworms, digging home with no wings, Silkworms, boiled inside our cocoons. Yet enough take flight In a field under a storm under God To hold hope. I hold the shards of the shattered bowl Dropped by my tiny hands. I hold the shouting that came after. Is anyone there to pick up the pieces? Of the shards of the image of God? All around us A still po

by Sarah Burchart Honorable Mention, Poetry, Create | Encounter 2025 O Wisdom, ordering the end of potential and the beginning of fusion and life, Come and teach us Your presence even as a single-celled zygote. O Adonai, whose cleavage flourishes a vibrant flame yet stays steady like the burning bush, Come and lead love to mature in us. O Root of Jesse, whose junctions compact into the ensign of humankind, Come and deliver us from our vain pilgrimage to decay. O Key of David,

by Bonnie Kallis Honorable Mention, Poetry, Create | Encounter 2025 Casting Her Pearl Before Swine The Oyster rests in the silken sand of a quiet cove the gentle sea stroking her shell As she secretly nurtures the treasure within— The soft, milky-white Pearl. Time passes quickly in the sea the sea life and sea foam float by And the Oyster still protects the treasure within— The glowing natural Pearl. Years plunge forward, the Pearl fully-formed— the Oyster slightly relaxes he

by Peter Queenan 1st Place, Music, Create | Encounter 2025 Artist Statement: The 1980 brutal murder (and rape) of the three nuns and their lay assistant in El Salvadore has always dwelled as a stark and troubling event within my store of memories, and it played a significantly part in the creation of this song. The song, however, has more of a general anti-violence and anti-war message to it. It is also a reminder that violence like this requires more than just sadness or sy

by Peter Queenan 2nd Place, Music, Create | Encounter 2025 Artist Statement: A song about social injustice, in its various forms. It’s about the ‘forgotten ones’ of society, those whose lives we don’t want to hear about because they disturb us and destabilize our comfort level. This is their song.

by Audra Buchmiller Honorable Mention, Poetry, Create | Encounter 2025 Who am I, that you would deem me worthy? Worthy of drawing my first breath. Worthy of being safe and warm. Worthy of defending. Worthy of walking down the street unbothered. Who am I that you would do anything to protect me from those who wish me harm? Do anything to hold me and bring me comfort-not hasten my death. If your answer to either of these questions is, “ I don't know,” or, “ I don't care,” Or, “

by Peter Queenan Honorable Mention, Music, Create | Encounter 2025 Artist Statement: This song is about the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians and was written during the invasion of Gaza after the October 2023 attack. The lion is Israel that tries to eliminate the Palestinians out of the land that they wish to fully occupy, but the brutality of their efforts makes it hard to sympathise with their cause. The vixen represents the Palestinian people, but their pr

by Peter Queenan Honorable Mention, Music, Create | Encounter 2025 Artist Statement: The quote “live simply so others may simply live” is attributed to multiple people including Elizabeth Ann Seton (who I think is the originator). Either way it’s a quote that has always struck me as profound as well as itself being simple. It evolved into this reggae style song.

by Oladejo Abdullah Feranmi Honorable Mention, Poetry, Create | Encounter 2025 Softest legs, hardened pace; wading the marshes of time one step at a time. You taste life when you inhale with your mouth— every brittleness, every gust that never knew storm, rushing to the tunnel of your breath, finding light in your lungs; breeze swaying the leaf alveoli to the rhythm of dandelions. Like sleeping time that dreamt of spring forgetting how crusty autumn lips were,

by Taylor Hyatt 1st Place, Prose, Create | Encounter 2025 Dear Terri… I was just a few weeks away from turning 13 when you died. An observer might say I “grew up” in an instant: in that month or so between when I first became curious about your story, and when your life ended. After your passing, I continued to grow “alongside” the world’s reaction to your death – trying to figure out my place in the world: as a young girl – dealing with family upheavals and middle school lif

by Nick Sansone 2nd Place, Prose, Create | Encounter 2025 Download Wonderfully Made to read it in its original screenplay formatting: Artist Statement: This script came from a deeply personal place as I navigate a new season of life, pondering future marriage and family in a more serious way than I have previously. Particularly as a pro-life man with autism, I have had to navigate difficult conversations with my family that revealed ignorant, outdated, ableist, and eugenicis

by Mary Stroka Honorable Mention, Prose, Create | Encounter 2025 Dear Jolene That’s how the letter from my daughter begins. She reached that level of disrespect after she snuck off to Vegas to marry Rod — a name I’ve always found revolting, even before I met the man who wore it so well. I continue to ride the train, every day, past the spot where Dad killed himself. I swallow and swat moisture from one of my eyes. For years now, I’ve blamed you for his death. That little bra

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

Photos by Maria Oswalt

by Timothy Kirchoff — Early in the morning of January 3, 2026, the US military launched an operation in Caracas, Venezuela, which succeeded in its objective of abducting Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, apparently to be tried on charges related to drug trafficking and narcoterrorism. As of now, it remains to be seen whether the American government has more evidence of Maduro’s guilt on these charges than they did for the various individuals who were killed without trial i

by John Whitehead — The new year of 2026 has brought a dramatic escalation in the conflict between the United States and Venezuela. The US military attacked Venezuela on January 3, capturing the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife. This US military intervention comes after months of growing American pressure on Venezuela. The US military has greatly increased its presence in the region around Venezuela and has imposed a blockade on the passage of sanctioned oi

by Lauren Pope — Yesterday, Renee Good was killed by an ICE agent who shot her three times at point blank range. Many videos released yesterday show her turning away from the agent. I am going to temporarily set aside the question of whether this was a justified use of force, because focusing on that question obscures a larger and more important one. Why was ICE in Minneapolis at all? This was not a neutral or routine law enforcement interaction. Paramilitary federal agents h