Alright, the lecture is over. 🥁 Let the suspense build! The winner of the Crossroads Writing Contest 2026 is:
LEAVING THE NEST - KERSTEN CHRISTIANSON 🥇
Kersten Christianson derives inspiration from wild, wanderings, and road trips, along with all that glitters and shines. She authored Curating the House of Nostalgia (Sheila-Na-Gig, 2020). Her newest poetry collection is The Ordering of Stars (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, 2026). Additionally, she is the poetry editor of the quarterly journal, Alaska Women Speak. Kersten lives in Sitka, Alaska where she eyeballs outer coast tides, shops Old Harbor Books, and hoards smooth ink pens. The arm of her writing hand is adorned with colorful tattoos from the Yukon, including the image of Zhùr, a 57,000-year-old wolf pup discovered in the permafrost near Dawson City, Yukon.

🎉 Roll out the red carpet!
THE TURN-OFF - JENNY HART 🥈
Jenny Hart is a writer whose work moves between fiction and literary nonfiction. She is currently completing a novel set against the backdrop of a courtroom trial, alongside a book of personal essays exploring how understanding often arrives long before comprehension does. A full-time student, she writes in the margins of coursework, drawn to scene over summary and to characters — real or invented — who are allowed their full complexity. Her prose favors restraint over explanation, trusting readers to meet her halfway. Find her on Instagram at @jb420hart.

🏆 Drumroll, please!
CROSSROAD MARKERS - GABRIEL MCLEOD 🥉
Somewhere along the way, Gabriel came into being. He hailed from red dirt alongside rivers and railroads, searching for his story. His work has been found in Storyteller, Elephant Journal, Beyond Words, Wingless Dreamer as well as back alleys and bathroom walls. He is pulling together poems and stories, weaving them into a collection or perhaps a blanket to make a fort with the Bluebird of Hope.

🎊 Unleash the celebration! Here are our top finalists:

I LAID THE SWORD DOWN BEFORE I KNEW WHY - JK KOLLI
JK Kolli is a writer and tech professional based in India. As an introvert who finds clarity in quiet observation, he utilizes storytelling to navigate the nuances of internal and external landscapes. Deeply influenced by shifting environments and personal transitions, his work translates lived experience into a language of reflection and resilience.

THE TREE IN AYLESBURY- FIELD - GAVIN BOURKE
Gavin Bourke grew up in the suburb of Tallaght in West Dublin and lives in County Meath. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English, Human Development and Irish from Dublin City University, a Master of Arts Degree in Modern Drama Studies and a Higher Diploma in Information Studies from University College Dublin. His work in English and to a lesser extent in the Irish language, broadly covers, the natural and socially constructed worlds. Gavin has won international competitions, for both book-length manuscripts and individual poems and is published widely internationally. He is currently completing a Master of Arts in Creative Writing.

LAST NIGHT YOU LOOKED AT ME AS IF FOR THE FIRST TIME - JENNIFER WEIGEL
Multi-disciplinary mixed media conceptual artist Jennifer Weigel (she/her/they/them) lives in Kansas, USA. Weigel is an avid art collector and enjoys playing board and role-playing games, junk store thrifting, and mail art. Her kindred animal is the deer though if she were a dog she’d be a beagle. Weigel’s favorite foods are unagi don or broiled calamari steak and frosting with or without cake. Weigel was previously a staff writer for Haunted MTL and is now involved with Weird Wyrlds. She serves on the Board of Nat 1 Publishing. Author of
Witch Hayzelle’s Recipes for Disaster trilogy and a myriad short stories, poems, art discourse, and more drifting around the Interwebs. Learn more on her website here. https://jenniferweigelart.com/

COULD NOT SKATE - TERRY BRINKMAN
Terry Has been painting for over forty-five years. Now he paints with words creating Poems, he has had poems in the Salt Lake City Weekly paper. Four Kindle E- Books. S.L.C.C. Anthologies. Poems in Rue Scribe, Tiny Seed, Write Pittsburg the Words Faire, Poet’s choice. Wingless Dreamer. North Dakoda Quarterly and Utah Life Magazine.

WILDWOOD - TYLER HUCKLEBERRY
Tyler Huckleberry is a New Jersey-based poet and long-time lyricist who writes to organize, track, and make sense of his experiences. He has previously fronted and performed with the bands My Favorite Downside and Daredevil Pilots. His works often wrestle with themes of identity and belonging, drawing motivation from his marriage, his two sons, and deep friendships.

TURNING THAT CORNER - LISA WHALEN
Lisa Whalen is a writer and professor whose work has appeared in White Wall Review, Adanna, Cagibi, Writing on the Edge, and Introvert, Dear, along with several edited collections. Her book, Stable Weight: A Memoir of Hunger, Horses, and Hope, was named international EQUUS Film & Arts Festival’s Reserve Champion in 2021. She coordinates the creative writing program at North Hennepin Community College in Minnesota. For more information, visit https://lisawhalen.wixsite.com/lisawhalen. My Facebook and Instagram handles are @LisaIrishWhalen.

🪄 And now, for the big reveal! Here are our selected contributors:

NIGHT WALK IN MADRID - ADNAN ADNAN
I BECAME IT ALL -ANDY BETZ
GHOST HUSBAND - RILEY DANVERS
CROSSROADS OF EXTINCTION - LARA DOLPHIN
SILVER GRILL - STEPHANIE
TEN KILOGRAMS OF HOPE - TETIANA YATSECHKO- BLAZHENKO
END IN SIGHT? - LINDSEY K BUCKLEY
MY LIFE’S TWILIGHT MUSE - MICHAEL COLON
ME -RACHEL KAU
CASTLE IN THE SAND - ERICA
TO MISTER BAD ATTITUDE - A.J. CHILSON
JOURNEY WITH A MUSE - RICHARD ERIC JOHNSON
THE DISEASE OF MATTED HAIR - LINA BUIVIDAVIČIŪTĖ
AT THE CROSSROADS - HOWARD OSBORNE
SPLIT DECISION - BRETT SALTER
A YEAR OF DIVING WITHIN - CHELSEA DEE WATTON
UNTITLED - LEOTIS LAMAR HARGROVE
IF LIFE COULD GRANT US ONLY ONE FAVOR - THOMAS KORON
RATS - LOTTIE BYRNE
THE LITTLE APARTMENT ON 30TH STREET - RICARDO MORAN
GREEN - ANONYMOUS
MY EVERYTHING - RACHEL KAU
UNEXPECTED DECISION - ALEX ANDY PHUONG
I AM DONE - PAT OBUCHOWSKI
A DEADLY COLD WINTER AT BOARDING SCHOOL - RUTHIE WITMER
DOWN IN THE WOODS - LANI TROWER
MAYBE THIS IS MY CONFESSION - AVELANDA
FROSTY TEETH - AARON OLDMAN
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE - SALMA SOFIA BELAKBIR
ECHOES OF THE RED EARTH - WARDA KHALIL
IN SEARCH OF BETTER - LEÏKA MOLY DICKENS

Congratulations to all the winners. More power to your pen. Keep writing. Don't forget to check more of our writing contests this year. Psst! If you're looking guidance and editorial services for your first book - just say please! You can write to us at editor@winglessdreamer.com Ciao!