Congratulations to the 2025 DWR Award Finalists!

The Detroit Writing Room Awards benefit the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Coaching Detroit Forward which provides free writing and photography programs for Detroit high school students. Read all the finalists’ stories and photos in the anthology “Detroit Voices 2025.”

POETRY

1st: The Heidelberg Project by Jimmie Smith Jr.

2nd: October in Michigan by Addie Ulrey

3rd: on gratitude: an ode to my mother by suburbanBLKwriter

Honorable Mention: Prayer Warrior by Tori Thompson

Honorable Mention: Coming Home, Detroit 2015 by John Jeffire

Honorable Mention: God's Awakening by Courtney Brewster

Honorable Mention: Upon Being Asked: What Is Your Sound? by Joy Gaines-Friedler

13-18 Age Group

1st: I Pray for Women by Ishana Patel

2nd: something by Anaiya Neal

3rd: Favorite Season by Amelia Purnell

FLASH FICTION

1st: What Crows Eat by Ann Goethe

2nd: Proof of Life by Erin Dawkins

3rd: A Scattered Mind by Tatiana Merida

13-18 Age Group

1st: The Crimson Egg by Eliza Stewart

2nd: Questions by Ishana Patel

3rd: God and Machine by Jonathan Byrd

NON-FICTION

1st: Belinda by Cherie Logan

2nd: Going Back: Welcome to Vietnam by John Terzano

3rd: The Battle of Bataan by Angelie Tumaghap Martzke

MEMOIR

1st: Mother's Day, 2018 by Nancy Nolan

2nd: Meals in Heels by Erin Dawkins

3rd: The Bird by Terry Opalek

Honorable Mention: Wedding Drums by Ginger Green

ESSAY

1st: Five Broken Elephants by Lydia Commissaris

2nd: Sisterhood by Oksana Romaniv

3rd: I Did Not Ask for Permission: I Bought a House in Italy and Built a Revolution Out of Joy by Dr. Patrice S. Johnson

CHILDREN'S BOOK MANUSCRIPT

1st: Like a Dinosaur by Elizabeth Krymski

2nd: Battle of Gecko Hall by Angelie Tumaghap Martzke

3rd: The Noise by Kelly Poulin

13-18 Age Group

1st: When Magic Collides by Eliza Stewart

SCREENWRITING

1st: Get Home Safe by K Zalapi-Bull

13-18 Age Group

1st: Handle With Care by Alaa Hizam

BLOGS

1st: Two Kinds of Knowing by Addie Ulrey

2nd: The auto show isn’t what it used to be, but my love for the Mustang remains true by Trish Coates

3rd: Best Places to Visit in Michigan: A Year-Round Travel Guide by Charlene Kernen

Honorable Mention: I Will Never Raise an iPad Kid by Lillian Groth

PHOTOGRAPHY

1st: Movement by Quinn Banks

2nd: Lake Erie Smoldering at Dawn by Leslie Cieplechowicz

3rd: Survivor: Michigan by Trish Coates

13-18 Age Group

1st: Joy by Jesmin Begum

2nd: Moment of fashion by Ryan Bell

A special thank you to sponsors Detroit Public Theatre and Mays Multimedia for supporting the 2025 DWR Awards.