Contributors
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All published contributors are listed alphabetically by last name. 200+ young writers publishedfrom 28 U.S. States,28 countries, and6 continents worldwide |
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Eman Ahmad is a 19-year-old English major from Lahore, Pakistan. She writes book reviews on Instagram @afewmorepagesleft.
Oyindoubra Akika is a 14-year-old Nigerian Christian. She loves writing poetry and fiction stories. She has only written fiction and poetry for fun, but hopes to impact her society. She believes the world needs a bit of kindness and magic.
Mona Alaa is a 16-year-old junior in high school in Egypt. Writing is Mona's way of making sense of the world and of her own experiences. She describes poetry as "her anchor through the raging storms of life".
Aisha Al-Tarawneh is a 16-year-old living in Qatar. She has previously been featured in The Heritage Review. Her interests include extreme sports and writing poetry at night.
MP Armstrong is a disabled queer writer from Ohio, studying English and history at Kent State University. Their work appears or is forthcoming in Perhappened, Prismatica Magazine, and Hominum Journal, among others, and their debut chapbook, who lives like this for such a cheap price?, is forthcoming from Flower Press. Find them online @mpawrites and at mpawrites.wixsite.com/website.
Abby Bacall is a 16-year-old high-school junior from New Jersey. This is her second year as editor of her school's Art and Literary Magazine. She has been writing independently for many years, and she has taken classes such as Creative Writing and AP English Language. She is also a writing tutor at her school.
Ellen J. Baddeley is a 15-year-old writer and playwright from England, who gains inspiration from world conflict and the surroundings about her.
Jason Ball is a 17-year-old student from Apex, North Carolina. He's written in the past but had never sought publishing until now. Mental health has always been a struggle, and writing was a way to look at abstract emotions in an unchanging medium. He hopes that his personal experiences might make someone else out there know that they aren't alone in their struggles.
Oliver Bankier is a 13-year old from Berkeley, California. He has been writing poems and essays with a writing coach for four years and has published several pieces at TeenInk.com. His Poem “The Protest Sign Speaks” was inspired by Eve Ewing’s “The Train Speaks” which appears in her 1919 poetry collection.
Zainab Batool is a 18 y/o poet, writer and photographer from Lahore, Pakistan. Inspired by topics like ache, grief, love, desire, sins, death, she has been writing under the pseudonym of "azaina". Through writing and poetry, she tries to find solace and a home in someone else's heavy heart. For her, poetry is the name of soothing one another's aches by dwelling in their beauty. You can access more of her poetry online at her wordpress blog (dearanxiousheart.art.blog) and on her Instagram page (Instagram.com/azainart).
Madeleine Benson is an 18 year old girl from Corpus Christi, Texas. She enjoys reading and writing in her spare time.
Ramyani Bhattacharya is a 19-year-old student living in Kolkata, India. Her works have appeared in Spillwords Press and the Student Edition of The Bombay Review. She has her own Wordpress blog. Writing for her is an escape from the apparent meaninglessness of life.
Skye Bowdon is a 15-year-old poet from Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is a Creative Writing major at New Mexico School for the Arts. Her work had been published in Dreams of Montezuma, An Anthology of Poetry and Prose New Mexico School for the Arts. Skye was a silver key medalist in the 2020 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.
Kaiya Braam is a 13-year-old from Queensland, Australia. As a young child, they always loved reading and writing, and enjoyed creating fictional worlds where anything is possible. Kaiya also loves music and acting, and has participated in many writing competitions. They strive for equality everywhere, and want to create a world where there is hope, freedom, and adventure every day.
Syed Umar Bukhari is an 18-year-old writer from Pakistan. A poet for more than half of his life, he is an author of two books. Six Times Forever, his first book, was a hit among the audience and his peers, dealing with important issues like mental health and hopeless romanticism. Honesty and rawness are the pillars of his work. He loves alliterations and is compelled to perfectionism in everything he does.
Nattie Bumpo is a 17-year-old girl with a ridiculous fear of outer space and a love for all things red. From a small town in the PNW, she writes for a couple of newspaper corporations. She is family-oriented, but that doesn't stop her from reaching for her dreams of writing for the most avid readers and young learners. She hopes to remind people of the relationships they should prioritize, outside cell phones and inside present surroundings.
Ciara Byrne is a 16-year-old writer from Colorado.
Alicia Cai is a 17-year-old living in Delaware. She's been writing since she was fifteen. She loves making meaning of the mundane, and connecting disparate concepts and objects to each other as if the entirety of existence is one galactic system.
Jacqueline Cai is a rising junior in Sammamish, Washington. She enjoys playing violin and chamber music with her friends. She does not have previous writing experience, but enjoys writing poetry occasionally. Aside from this, she is part of the robotics team at her school, which usually volunteers at community events to raise awareness for STEM.
Luciana Camacho is a 17-year-old high school student from Costa Rica. She has written multiple short stories, novels and poems both on the online writing platform Wattpad and on Instagram as WinterWriter11 and The Old Romantic, respectively. Her writing is mostly inspired by her struggles with mental health and her deep love for superheroes.
J. M. Chadwick is a seventeen-year-old writer located near Boston, Massachusetts. She is a senior in high school and aside from writing, she enjoys dance, painting, and film photography. She is a poetry and prose editor for Kalopsia Literary Journal and has had work published in Heartbroken Zine and Floral Zine.
Clara Chai, a sixteen-year-old secondary school student from Singapore, has been writing short stories since she was a child. She draws inspiration from the world around her and her work has been published on several platforms. Find her at @writings_by_dawn on Instagram.
Jaewon Chang is a high school junior living in the Philippines. His works of poetry have been recognized by literary magazines, such as Cleaver Magazine, Track Four, and more. During his free time, Jaewon enjoys traveling the city on foot.
Justin Chang is a 17-year old from Issaquah, Washington. He is not an experienced writer, but he loves fried chicken! While claiming to lack writing skills, Justin is an advocate for strong and meaningful relationships, and is always willing to help those in need.
Sarah Chaudhry is a 15-year-old from Queens, New York. Sarah is currently a tenth grader at the Queens School of Inquiry and has taken a Creative Writing elective in her ninth-grade year.
Suzanna Chen is a sixteen-year-old secondary school student from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Emerging from previous struggles with mental illnesses, she wishes to encourage others to speak out and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health. She has no formal writing experience, but her works - mostly personal stories - can be found on various mental health awareness platforms. Although she acknowledges that her writing isn’t perfect - as English is her second language - she still hopes to spread positivity and share her experiences, hoping it would empower others.
Eunice Chi is a sophomore in high school from New Jersey. Her work has been recognized by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers in 2019 and 2020. In her free time she enjoys astrology books, strangely specific Spotify playlists, and painting.
Emma Chin is a 14 year old girl from New York. She has been writing since she was seven years old and has no prior publications. She is fond of writing contemporary fantasy and poetry, though she has dabbled in many other genres.
Lina Chokrane is a 16-year-old first-generation Moroccan; her parents are from Casablanca, Morocco. She was born and raised in New York City. She attends a French bilingual school in New York City called Lycée Français De New York. Additionally, she is a performing arts fanatic, meaning she is in love with the arts (musical theatre, theatre, filmmaking, etc... you name it!). When Lina isn’t at school, you’ll see her on stage singing, acting, dancing my heart out and even directing. Lina has never published anything professionally but has published several articles in her school magazine.
Mehrul Bari S. Chowdhury is a writer and poet from Dhaka, Bangladesh. He has recently completed his BA in English Literature, and has been published multiple times in the Six Seasons Review, Dhaka Tribune, Daily Sun, and The Daily Star.
Hannah Collier is 19 and currently lives in Waldorf, Maryland. Her poem "Opposition In the Time of Doubt" was submitted to her high school literary magazine, and she is currently submitting recent work to publication magazines.
Divyanshi Dash is a monochromatic leaves enthusiast from India. She is an 18-year-old girl who believes in love and kindness the most. She is an intersectional feminist who devotes a lot of time to writing and reading poetry. She is a contributor at Women's Republic. She's often found journaling if not ranting about feminism and what it takes to be a woman.
Siya Dhamija is a 16-year-old simple girl from India with her diary and poetry as her bestfriends. All she believes in is to be patient with herself as nothing in nature blooms all year.
Nikolai Dimasilaw is a 15-year-old writer from the Philippines. He enjoys writing novels, short stories, and poetry under the name Dimasilaw. He writes about everything under the sun, but particularly loves theological and mental health themes!
Isobel Dixon is a 17- year-old writer from the northern England. She has been writing poems and stories her whole life and has entered poetry and short story competitions since the age of 6 . Her favourite topics to write about are hopeless romantics and the emotions she deals with due to experiences that have tested her mental health. When Isobel is not writing, you will find her reading!
Ilana Drake is a 17-year-old writer from New York City. Ilana is a Seed in Seeds of Peace, a Rising Voices Fellowship alumna, a mentee in Girls Write Now, and a Bridger in YouthBridge-NY. Ilana served as a Young Leader of Manhattan and her work has been featured in Bright Lite, Highly Indy, The Forward, The Times of Israel, Jewish Women’s Archive, jGirls, Blue Marble Review, Crossed Paths, Fresh Ink for Teens, The Youth Voices Network & Day One “All of Love’s Vibes” zine, Girls Write Now blogs, Girls Write Now Anthologies (2019, 2020), and YouthBridge-NY blogs.
Bella Dy is a 15-year-old from the U.S. She started writing poetry regularly in March, at the beginning of the COVID-induced quarantine. After the world essentially shut down, writing became an escape from the harsh and tragic realities faced when a poet looks up from her pen.
Lara is a teenage girl who has lived in Ireland all her life. Although she usually works on getting a novel or two written up, she often tries her hand at poetry and prose too.
Shahd Mohamed Elgendy is a 17-year-old from Egypt. She has been creatively writing since 2017, and it is her biggest passion in life. She likes for her writings to bring out parts of life which are buried and hidden away from people, discovering new truths and realities within her words.
Sophia Emy is a 17-year-old high school senior. She currently attends Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, but is originally from Brooklyn, New York.
Zo Estacio is 17 and resides in the Philippines. She is a HUMSS student and writes sports and science articles for her school paper. She can be found doing calligraphy and staining every surface with ink in her spare time.
Umamah Farooq is a 17 year old poet from a small town in Pakistan. She loves to write poems on social issues and the ups and downs of life. You can read her work on her instagram blog @_i.writes_ .
Olivia "Liv" Farrar is a nineteen-year-old hailing from the mountainous state of Colorado. Not only is she an award-winning poet, but has a forthcoming poem in Foothills Magazine. When she's not writing or reading, she's either baking near a toasty fire or making a fire in the wilderness.
Lindy Feaster is a teenage poet from the Sonoran Desert. She is an avid music lover and climate activist. Among other things, she can usually be found talking to plants or listening to bluegrass. You can find more of her work in Dreamlism Magazine.
Ai Li Feng, 14, is an aspiring author and amateur artist located in the United States. Her works are written primarily in lowercase letters, capitalizing proper nouns alone, a stylistic choice inspired by Latin and Ancient Greek, both of which she has studied. Her writing has been featured by Write the World and the Heritage Review.
Elena Ferrari is a fifteen year old from Cambridge, Massachusetts who has been writing poems on napkins for as long as she can remember. She enjoyed heading her middle school’s literary magazine in 7th and 8th grade and is excited to be contributing to her high school’s literary magazine. She has been awarded Scholastic Keys for her writing and also loves to express her creativity through watercolor doodles and camera lenses.
isabella fiore is a seventeen year-old from suburban ontario. she enjoys prose, fall out boy, and wrapping herself in blankets like a burrito. her pieces detail anxiety, depression, sad love stories, and overall messiness.
Liz Franzone is a 21-year-old senior at Saint Leo University and an English Major with a minor in Creative Writing. She hails from Tarpon Springs, Florida and has been writing creatively since high school. Last year, her poem "Song of the Lake" was submitted into Saint Leo's Literary Magazine The Sandhill Review.
Daisy Friedman is a 17-year-old from Omaha, Nebraska. She has been writing for her school paper for four years, and is currently the Editor In Chief. Additionally, she won a National Scholastic Gold Medal in Poetry, and a Regional Silver Key in Memoir.
Jonathan Fu is a rising senior at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He is an ardent Classicist, studying both Latin and Ancient Greek, and loves to translate poems as well as compose creative fiction and nonfiction pieces alike. His work has been published in The Trouvaille Review, and he has received recognition from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
Gabrielle Galchen is a public high school NYC senior, where she has tried to pursue writing however possible (to be honest, she is semi-obsessed:)). Besides writing on her own, she is a mentee at Girls Write Now, a nonprofit organization that helps young women pursue their voice through writing. She’s also part of Climate Speaks, an organization committed to using spoken word poetry to spread the word about climate change. She often prefers poetry focusing on social justice or on her own experiences, yet also enjoys writing creative nonfiction and short stories.
Misty Gerber is a 14-year-old from Illinois. In her spare time, she loves to write, paint, and play sports.
Lily Gerhard is a 16-year-old disabled writer from Orange County. When she's not writing you can find her playing dungeons and Dragons typically as a bard or hanging out with her dogs Flower and Poe. She is currently studying creative writing and hopes to pursue a career in middle-grade fiction.
Lucy Goerzen lives in Canada, and she is 13 years old. When she is not writing short stories she can be found working on her novel, which does not currently have a title. You can find her on Instagram @lucyyem._ or Spotify @rainy.daze.
Mia Golden is 13 years old and lives in the Central Valley, California. She is an editor for the interstellar review, a lit magazine, and hopes to publish an anthology of poetry one day. Her writing has been featured on Write the World and Prose. Mia is passionate about activism and hopes that her writing can change the world for the better.
Katie Goldsmith is 17 years old and has lived in the United Kingdom all of her life. Previously, she has participated in writing competitions and has been published in a few children’s books throughout her time at school. Mainly, she writes for her own purpose and to reflect on her life.
Kyrah Gomes is a 17 year old student living in NYC who loves poetry, literature, making jewelry, and authentic self-expression. In her free time, she can probably be found making super specific Spotify playlists.
Dhwanee Goyal is a fifteen-year-old student from Maharashtra, India. When she's not trying to not fall asleep, she can be found reading, writing, or procrastinating. Pretty buildings make her heart beat fast, and she likes puns, sentences that trail off and...
Praniti Gulyani is a 16-year-old writer from India.
Aida Guo is a 16-year-old artist and writer from North Carolina. She was the Editor-in-Chief of her school's literary magazine, and the Assistant Editor-in-Chief for her school's news site. In her free time, she enjoys listening to indie and K-pop music, writing letters to friends, teaching younger students, and spending time with her friends and family.
Mai Ly Hagan is a seventeen-year-old who grew up in Vietnam. She currently attends Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut. Her favorite ice cream flavor is green tea.
Liana Handler is 16 years-old from Coral Springs, Florida. She grew up in New England; though her family moved to Florida as she entered middle school. She has been writing continuously for about three years, but the Creative Arts had been encouraged in her household which allowed her to create and tell stories since she was a young girl.
Zinnia Hansen is a high school student and poet from Port Townsend Washington. She has a tendency towards abstraction, but a deep love of the idiosyncrasies that make us human. Her work has been published through the Young Writers Project, and she has participated in The Hugo House Young Writers Cohort.
Quan Harris-Holley is a 17-year-old African-American prose writer from Charlotte, NC. He is a rising high school senior who plays soccer and makes skits in his free time.
Felipe Rodolfo Hendriksen studies Literature at Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina. He currently lives in Quilmes.
Eleanor Horne is a 17-year-old student living in London, England. She has been previously published in two poetry anthologies for Young Writers UK, and her work primarily focuses on identity and belonging. Her passions include film, literature, and gardening. When she is not writing she is doting on her muse and confidant, Jenkins the cat.
Naomi Horner is a 15-year-old from the United States of America. She has previous writing experience through Write the World and YA Writer's Club (under a pen name). Naomi likes writing free-verse poetry without capital letters and using metaphors without abandon. She enjoys singing, reading, cooking, and watching the rain fall outside her window.
Matt Hsu is a 17-year-old student from San Francisco, California. In his spare time, he enjoys playing tennis and eating dark chocolate. He writes about things like romance and Christmas trees, but he makes it spooky because it's more fun that way. Currently he's working on a mystery novel about a lonely assassin.
Lillian Colette Hughes is a two-time NaNoWriMo winner currently known in South Carolina as Summerville’s favorite young author. She’s an avid creator of new works of fiction and often can’t stop thinking about story ideas (which she doesn’t mind). When she isn’t writing, she enjoys creating music with her band, spending time with her pets, and learning to become a falconer. Lillian self-published her first book, The Golden Fur, at the age of eleven, and was awarded a 2020 Regional Gold Key by Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for her second novel, A Long Winter’s Journey. Now just fourteen years old and seventy thousand words into her third novel, Foxheart, Lillian is sure to have many more stories to share with you, her treasured readers, in the years to come.
Danielle Hutchinson is a sixteen-year-old who lives in Cornwall. Although her work varies from fiction to non-fiction, articles to poetry, it is uniform in its exploration of contemporary issues. Her passion for the environment has led to her poetry being featured in a charitable anthology ‘Planet in Peril’ and a scientific essay about human-induced vs. natural climate change being published in ‘The Scholar’ magazine.
Elyse Hwang is a 15-year-old writer from the Los Angeles area. She works for her school's literary magazine and has had her work recognized by the PTA's Reflection Contest. When not writing or musing about her future, you can find her wondering where her childhood has gone.
D.Y. Ink is a 13-year-old writer living in the American South who finds her footing in the lack of one. You can find her writing at Write the World or Prose.
Kian Iuchi-Fung is a 15 year old non-binary writer and music producer from the California Bay Area. Their experience as a gender non-conforming person of color gives them an interesting outlook on the social construction of gender and the absent-minded emphasis that we put on it in our everyday lives. Their influences range from French classics to 90s anime to other queer and GNC poets.
Asra Jafarey is a 20 year old university student from Pakistan who enjoys all forms of art and shares her own on her Instagram page @lilacfingertips.
Rishabh Jain is an 18-year-old writer from India. He writes as a hobby and has been doing so for around a year. You can find him at @theritingritual on Twitter and theritingritual.wordpress.com to check out his blog.
Reilly James is a sixteen year old writer living in Beverly Hills, California. After moving there from rural Australia, she's found her goal in life- to successfully publish her work.
Lexi Janssen is fifteen years old and a resident in Denver, Colorado. Her writing experience is being a staff writer for another magazine company called Second Revolution. She has a huge passion for writing that she is currently working on a book called December. She loves to write about anything that has hit home or has a huge passion. One of her goals is to become a teen advocating for mental health issues and teens with disabilities. In her free time she loves to write, read, hang out with friends and family, and go to her youth group.
Varada Kaiga is from India. She is 22 years old. She reads a lot and thinks a lot. That sums up why she loves to write. She started writing in her Instagram page recently. She wants to impact the world through her writings. When she writes, it calms her mind. It makes her feel belonged. And she is really looking forward to achieving something in this field.
AM Kamaal is a Nigerian poet and writer. When he's not writing, he reads Ezra Pound, and Jericho Brown, listens to Àyìnlá Ọmọwúrà songs, and watches Hollywood. He is 19 years old.
Minsung Kang is a 15 years old student living in the Philippines. He likes playing football and basketball with his friends as well as listening to Ballads. He is also interested in studying science, especially physics.
Jasmine Kapadia is a 16-year-old poet from the Bay Area. She has work featured or forthcoming in Same Faces, The Daphne Review, Malala Fund's Assembly, the Eunoia Review, and The Rising Phoenix Review, among others. Find her on Instagram @jazzymoons
Lani Kasperovic is a 17-year-old from Australia. She has been published in three Australian youth collections. Lani has also participated in online publications and editing assistance for three years.
Teo Kate-Lyn is a 19-year-old from Singapore. She has always loved to write as a way of expressing her feelings - especially when she takes a strong stance on an issue.
Amanda Kay is a current sophomore at Santa Clara High School in California, USA. She enjoys swimming, reading, and drinking a good cup of tea. In her free time, she likes to write revenge stories with her best friend (especially about a certain reptilian) and has enjoyed writing for most of her life.
Kyra Kaya is a 17 year old Native Hawaiian author from Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Kyra enjoys writing stories about the people and events that have impacted her life. She has been recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for her work. When not writing, she enjoys baking chocolate chip cookies, swimming at the beach, and perfecting her Mario Kart skills.
Emma Keas is a 14-year-old writer from California. She is currently in a love triangle with poetry and art and spending her time maintaining a hold on both. When she is not professing her love for them, she is either taking a swim in her mind or fresh from a dip in its waters.
Lori Khadse is a 17 year old writer from New Jersey and the founder of The Elysian Muse Youth Literary Magazine. Her works are published or upcoming in literary journals like Polyphony Lit, the Apprentice Writer, Short Édition, and A Lack of Clarity. When she isn't writing, she loves to strum at her guitar and make hot chocolate!
Laiba Karim Khan is a student from Karachi, Pakistan. She is eighteen years old and has previously studied biological sciences. She started writing since she was fifteen and mostly wrote poetry and lyrical narratives. Although she now writes articles and writes other creative writing genres, she still is passionate about writing.
Michael Kharadze is a 16-years-old writer from Tbilisi, Georgia.
Doeun (Jessica) Kim is a 14-year-old, born in South Korea and currently studying at the International School of Manila. Her work has been recognised by The Heritage Review and Austin Poets International. She enjoys writing flash fiction in her spare time, inspired by her culture and identity.
Hwisung Ko is a 13-year-old who is from the country of the Republic of Korea. He enjoys drinking hot tea on sunday mornings while listening to calm music.
Evelína Kolářová (she/her) is a 21-year-old writer from the Czech Republic whose poems have been previously published in literary magazines such as Really System or Sink Hollow. Her work has made the finalist list of the Poetry Matters Project's Literary Prize 2019. She is currently studying an undergraduate programme at the University of South Bohemia and is the Editor in Chief and Social Media Manager of a student magazine published at the Faculty of Arts.
Caitlyn Kong is 11 years old, close to being 12. She was born in Washington, and her dad is from China while her mom is from Taiwan. She has loved writing since as long as she can remember. Currently, she has a writer's blog, in which she writes fiction stories as well as events from her life. Check it out at http://readlaughandfun.com.
Shayan Kothari is a 17-year-old high schooler who resides in the Bay Area. He draws inspiration from the countless submissions he reads as an editor for Polyphony Lit. His work has been featured in Same Faces Collective.
Siddharth Krishna is a 20-year-old from Coimbatore, India, and currently studies at the Kumaraguru College of Technology. He has been writing since he got the opportunity to write a short story for a book called Catapult with 20 other young people. He has written short stories and non-fiction articles for college clubs as well.
ZiQing Kuang is a 15-year-old from Arizona. She interned with Girls' Life Mag over the past couple months and is working with Five Star Journal at the moment.
Anoushka Kumar is a 15-year-old writer from Mumbai, India who loves labradoodles, indie rock and feminist/queer activism. You can find most of her work on Write the World and the prose.com.
Sophia Kunkel is an 18 year old literature-lovin’ high school senior from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, though she has also lived in Indiana and Texas (the latter of which was her favorite). She has been writing as long as she can remember, and currently, has several complete fiction novel drafts; poetry is a genre that she only dabbles in. Sophia also serves as Marketing Director for The Young Writers Initiative in her free time and co-owns a popular writing tips account on Instagram, too.
Minjung Kyun is an 18-year-old from South Korea attending Chattahoochee High School in the United States. She has been to eight different schools in five different countries. She has been recognized by the Scholastics Arts and Writing Awards and has published her writing in various places such as K’in Literary Journal and Heritage Review.
May Lafer-Kirtner is fourteen, and lives in Eugene, OR. When she was eight years old, she discovered that she could write stories like the ones she read, and from then on, she knew she had to be a writer. She has had two poems previously published, one in a smash school magazine and one in The Weight Journal.
Sariah Lake is a fifteen-year-old high school student from the Caribbean. She hopes to create writing that all audiences can relate to and feel seen and encouraged by. Her work can be found online on her blog, sarissshelves.blogspot.com or her Instagram page sariwrites_
Paris LeClaire is a fifteen-year-old sophomore from West Michigan. Paris has been writing all through her childhood, and she never plans to stop. Her prior work has been featured in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.
Amy Lee is a 12-year-old writer from South Korea. She was born in Germany, and moved to the Philippines at a young age. She enjoys writing and reading fantasy, poetry and many other genres of books. This is her first publication.
Avalon Felice Lee is a 16-year-old California native. She enjoys writing trippy revenge fan-fics about chameleons with her best friend. Like most Asian kids who write for fun, she plays a stringed instrument.
Erin Lee is a 16-year-old Asian-American from North Carolina. They use writing as a way to express emotions that they would otherwise suppress, with much of their work centering around topics of mental health. They can be found on Archive of Our Own (AO3) under the pseudonym aerixlee.
Lauren Lee is a Junior attending Yongsan International High School in Seoul, South Korea. She is currently building her creative writing portfolio in preparation for enrollment in a university. Her other hobbies include volleyball and baking.
Stella Lei is a sixteen-year-old writer from the suburbs of Pennsylvania. She is on the staff of her school's literary magazine, and her work has been nationally recognized by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
Oz Leshem is a fifteen year old poet from Taos, New Mexico. Oz attends New Mexico School for the Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Oz was a finalist for the 2020 Santa Fe Youth Poet Laureate and a silver medalist in the 2020 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for Poetry. Recently, Oz was selected as a 2020 Miller Scholar for excellence in Creative Writing at New Mexico School for the Arts.
Elise Lester is a 14-year-old gender non-conforming writer from Christchurch, New Zealand. They have been writing since they were 10, and enjoys writing short stories and poetry for their school news and competitions, as well as art and illustration. They are currently working on their first novel, based around the twelve Zodiac signs. As a young LGBT+ writer, Elise aims to share their struggles with identity and stigma through their writing.
Amy Li is a rising sophomore at Richmond Hill High School in Georgia. She enjoys photography, playing piano, and procrastinating. You can find her on Instagram @twinkie_pamphlet.
Avery Lim is a 15-year-old student living in Singapore. She has submitted many works of literature under various names on various platforms and was a member of her country's Creative Arts Programme. In her spare time she enjoys painting, cooking and strumming her guitar.
Natasha Lim is an 18-year-old writer from Singapore. She is a final-year psychology student, and writes to express all the things she can’t say. In her spare time, she enjoys drinking copious amounts of coffee and reading books that make her cry.
Naomi Ling is an emerging student writer and poet on the East Coast, USA. Her poetry and prose often grapple with the bare and the unknown, nostalgia and new love, childhood and womanhood. She has been recognized by the 2019 Scholastic Writing Awards and several acclaimed journals. When she's not writing, you can find her swooning over SZA, devising lame pick-up lines for her friends, or drowning herself in Vietnamese iced coffee.
Samantha Liu is a sixteen year-old writer from New Jersey. Her works have been recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and The New York Times and have appeared in Blue Marble, The Eunoia Review, The Lumiere Review, and more. When she is not writing, you can find her discovering obscure Spotify artists.
Desiree Lomick is a 20-year-old from and currently living in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is a college student who majors in psychology and minors in creative writing, and her writing experience includes pieces she has written for class and for herself.
Luiza Louback is a 17-year-old Brazilian girl. Passionate about literature, beyond reading and writing, she founded a social literary project, advocating the right to read in Latin America. Luiza won scholarships in the Cambridge Immerse Essay Competition and first place in the IFMG poetry competition.
Valerie Mae is a 13-year-old author who lives in New South Wales, Australia.
Nandini Rabindra Maharana is 16 years old and lives in Delhi, India. She is an editor for her school magazine and also a member of an independent teen-led organisation which works in bringing awareness amongst people about sensitive issues like domestic violence, mental health, etc. She has previously participated in Queens Commonwealth Essay and won a bronze medal. She loves to read and write stuff. Also she has an Instagram handle (@_flickeringchaos_) where she posts writeups to spread hope and happiness.
Nikhita Makam is 16 years old, too young to know much but too old to get away with things. She is the author of '14 works by a 14 year old' and calls herself a 'high school student by day, poet by night'. She believes that poetry has power, something that her mother taught her. She finds happiness in reading, writing, gardening, octopuses, and wondering about ladybugs. She tries her best to maintain a balance between all of her hobbies, school and the common dreaded enemy to all high school students- homework.
Bhavika Malik is a high school freshman from Gurgaon, India. She is fourteen, and she recently began writing. Her work was published in the Ice Lolly Review a while back.
Clarissa Mae Maravilla is a 16-year-old from the Philippines. She started writing when she was 8 years old. Writing such stories and poetries somehow became a hobby at the same time as her passion. It's her stress relief, and whenever she is writing the words that she bleeds, it inspires her to continue living her life to fulfill her purpose.
Maria-Anna Maridi is a sophomore in high-school from Greece, as well as an aspiring fiction writer, writer and editor for the Teen Magazine, as well as co-founder of a youth organisation called Coequalorg.
Sonia Mehta is an emerging writer and a junior at a high school in Central Ohio. Sonia started writing poetry as a child, but by high school, while she still loved the beauty of poetry, the writer felt the solitude it imposed. She switched to prose. According to Miss Mehta, “In the world of fiction writing, I am always in the company of the characters I am creating.” Sonia submitted several of her works to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. They won a gold and two silver keys. Her story “Porch” went on to win a National Gold Medal in 2020. Other stories have been published in the Secret Attic, the Blue Marble Review, and the Apprentice Writer. Currently, Miss Mehta is an editor of Polyphony Lit Magazine.
Anika Meisel is an 18-year-old from Seattle, Washington. Currently a Senior at Garfield High School, she has been playing violin for thirteen years. As an adoptee from Fuling, Sichuan Province, China, her Chinese heritage is one of the most prevalent topics in her writing, along with that of music. In the future, she hopes to join an orchestra, but wouldn't mind writing program notes on the side — something she has done for the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Ella Mevissen is a 14 year old girl living in the United States. She finds solace in creation, and her favorite hobby is making words into art. You can find her dancing in the moonlight, singing with the birds, and finding the simple joys in life. Her work has been published or forthcoming in the Ice Lolly Review and Write The World.
Adya Mohapatra is a 16-year-old from Washington. She is excited to contribute work to this magazine and add to her previous writing experience. She has published works on another website designed for teens, and she has always enjoyed participating in local writing competitions. She is also in charge of her school’s news site, where they post global and local news, opinion pieces, reviews, and featured topics.
Emma Mujica is a fourteen-year old girl from Agency, Missouri. She has been writing in some form her whole life, but only started writing poetry a few years ago. She enjoys the cathartic experience. No pun intended.
Erin Mullens has been writing since she was 11 years old, which is not a very long time when you consider that she is only a sophomore in high school. She lives in Montgomery Country, Maryland, and when she’s not writing, she’s probably reading War and Peace or studying. You can find her on Instagram at @phemios_minstrel.
Kennedi Munson is a 15-year-old blogger, photographer, and artist based in Mexico City. Her writing experience predominantly consists of her blog (koigopop ) which focuses on the issues of marginalized individuals, along with a variety of forms of poetic writing. Having lived there for over 5 years, Kennedi managed to learn about both the essence of community and culture, but also the beauty within herself and individuals around the world.
Dami Mustapha is a 17 year old high school senior from Fort Worth,TX who enjoys writing poetry in her free time along with baking. Things from cupcakes to lemon bars. She has a dream to change the world one word at a time and is slowly making it into a reality. She has been writing poetry for a year in a half and wishes to continue through college.
Vindhya Nagandla is a 13-year-old how goes to George H. Moody Middle School in Richmond, VA. She has been writing since fifth grade. In seventh grade, she took a Creative Writing class and has still been taking it.
Tanvi Nagar is a student of class 11 at Delhi Public School, Gurgaon. She has been writing for the past eight years and is passionate about public speaking, travelling, playing sports and reading. She has contributed to national newspapers like ‘The Times of India’ and ‘Hindustan Times’; magazines like the ‘Neev Magazine’ ‘Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine’ ‘Anti-Heroin Chic’ ‘Ice Lolly Review’ ‘The Hearth Magazine’ ‘Elysian Muse Magazine’ ‘The Weight Journal’ ‘Secret Attic’ ‘Life in 10 Minutes Magazine’ ‘Risen Zine’ and ‘Children’s World’ and anthologies like ‘The Last Flower of Spring’ and ‘Riding on a Summer Train’ by Delhi Poetry Slam; ‘The Great Indian Anthology’ by Half Baked Beans and ‘She the Shakti’ by Authors Press. She is the Editor in her school and has authored three books titled, ‘A Treasure Trove of Poetic Wonderland’ ‘A Bountiful of Rhythmic Stories’ and ‘My Book of Short Stories and Poems’ and two research papers which were published in the International Journal of Multidisciplinary Educational Research. She has won the Eye Level Literary Award 2018 by Daekyo, South Korea; the Create Change Challenge 2020 by the University of Queensland, Australia; the Millennial Essay Writing Contest by UNESCO and Takthe.
Jyotsna Nair is a 16-year-old currently living in India, as well as her own imagination. Her work has been published in Canvas Literary Journal, the anthology Writers on Earth: New Visions For Our Planet, and The Apprentice Writer. She is a firm believer in the power of banana bread, and has been known to consume copious amounts in alarmingly short intervals of time.
Kyla Nano is a 17-year-old writer from California who reads and hosts her podcast episodes on a daily basis. When she's not doing either, she writes, researches, or spends time with her family watching Netflix. As a literary transcendentalist, she loves to spread her profound art and academic findings to show that those in their lonesome are valid and relevant.
KatieAnn Nguyen is an almost 15-year-old girl from the United States who wears dreams a size too big for her. The world is painful and she knows that, but that doesn't stop her from smiling. A little lost, a little hopeless, a little gone with the wind, she just happens to be another teenager surviving Life as best she can.
Tho Nguyen is a 10th-grader from Pleasanton, California. Her work has previously been published in the Bitter Fruit Review and Kalopsia Literary Magazine. She is also an editor for the Interstellar Review. Some things she enjoys are the scratch of a calligraphy nib, the icy sweetness of jasmine boba, and the first word in a once-blank Google Doc.
Ananya Nigam is a 13-year-old student living in New Delhi, India. She loves reading and writing fiction and poetry. In her spare time, she also enjoys baking and spending time with her puppy.
Gracie Nordgren is an 18-year-old student from Denver, Colorado. She enjoys daydreaming and pomegranates. Her work has previously been published by the South Broadway Ghost Society.
Samuel Nzebor is a fourth-year law student at the University of Benin. He is 21 years old, and resides in Nigiera; a poet whose works have appeared on Tuck Magazine, Mojave Heart Review, and Elsewhere. He envisions a world without pain.
Ollie O. is a young writer, who likes to read, draw and of course... write! They are currently writing their first novel. They live and write in Texas, USA.
Connor O'Brien is 17 years old and lives in Issaquah, Washington. He has no prior writing experience he believes worth noting, but he's always enjoyed writing.
Lyne Odhiambo is a 17-year-old living in Lexington, Kentucky. Her poetry is featured in Potted Purple magazine and The Make it Safe Project's forthcoming anthology. Lyne writes to remember words that are too good to be forgotten.
Ari and Dri Ogir are 18-year-old twin sisters from Trinidad. They have had a profound love for reading and writing ever since childhood. Occasionally they enjoy taking the words from their heads and painting it on a canvas. They are two small girls in a big world with dreams in their hearts and stories in their minds, and artists' souls.
Marisa Oishi is a 14-year-old writer from Washington state. She is a ballet dancer and loves reading and crossword puzzles. She frequently publishes her work on Write the World.
Nana Opare-Addo is a 13-year old girl from Bronx, NY. Since she was little, Nana has always been infatuated by a variety of poems & prose prompts. In school, she would constantly write different pieces and the joy she received from writing would help her combat different battles. She is currently a young writer at "WritetheWorld."
Ayesha Owais is a 16 year old writer and has been writing since as long as she can remember. She started writing on Instagram about last year and has improved a lot since then! She has her personal website (a blog) where she posts her articles and poetry, and she's also gotten published once or twice in a local magazine and along with that featured multiple times on different Instagram writing platforms.
Aadit Pahuja is a fifteen-year-old living in Delhi, India. His poetry has been accepted by not more than two literary magazines. His poetry is related to topics that drift away from the normal and explores topics like human trafficking, and religious beliefs. He spends most of his time thinking about writing, and when he starts writing, he ends up doing something else. Other hobbies include killing time on YouTube and eating.
Nikki P is a writer from the United States. She edits for a few magazines and has work published in The Hearth Magazine and Paper Crane Journal.
Leah Marie Park is a sophomore in high school from both Seoul and California (currently living in Seoul). Her work has been recognized with a Gold Medal by the Scholastics Art & Writing Awards. Aside from writing fiction and poetry, she likes to cook and bake.
Seungbihn Park is a 15-year-old Korean student who is currently attending Cresskill High School in the United States. She was born in Switzerland and lived in several countries, including the Philippines and the Dominican Republic. Her poems have been awarded by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and published by Trouvaille Review.
Olivia Paul (she/her) is a 13 year old poet, who lives in Tampa, Florida. She is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and much of her work centers around her journeys through love in the eyes of a young person. Writing has always been an escape for her, where she could turn her deepest secrets into stories and be proud of them. Later in life, Olivia wants to pursue writing as a career, and hopefully make it as a journalist.
Charlotte Picker is a 16-year-old high school student studying in Brisbane, Australia. While she does not do any writing professionally, she has a deep love for creative writing, especially short stories, creative non-fiction and poetry. She is currently working to develop a portfolio of work to take her passion into a more professional setting. Her poem was written in response to a deep anger she felt towards the issue of gun violence in America. As an American-Australian she often finds herself angered by the same issues that plague many American students, while also dealing with an innate sense of helplessness and inability to fight for change, partly due to her location. She hopes this poem can change that.
A rising junior from New Jersey, Alefiya Presswala writes because she sees and experiences so many different worlds and feelings, and she
needs to share that with other people. She wants to let people know that they are never alone in their struggles. Her work is soon to be recognized in Teen Author Boot Camp's 2020 Anthology and other online magazines. Besides writing, Alefiya takes an interest in astrology, painting, and social activism.
Chelsea Quayle is a 17 year old female from Australia. While she has been an avid reader since she was young, she started writing creatively at 13 years old. Her younger teenage years and her mental health were a struggle for here, so when she thought no one else would listen she turned to writing. Through this outlet, even when no one was reading, she felt heard. Through her writing she has grown so much as a person and even though she still struggles, it has assisted in developing her into a person with a matured awareness of herself and of others. Through her writing, she tries to channel her emotions and strip them back to a very unadulterated and refined state. She hopes to convey to others who haven't yet found their voice that she hears them and that they are not alone.
Rebekah Rahman is a 17-year-old currently residing in Washington. She's originally from South Carolina and has enjoyed the art of writing since she first learned to do so. She's currently a staff writer for the Issaquah High Times and usually focuses her journalistic pieces on issues regarding both race and equal representation. She has written screenplays for the IHS Film Club and supports local radio journalism in her community. For more of her creative writing pieces, find her works here: Black Coffee Writes.
Farzeen Rashid is 16 years old and she is from Canada. She started writing poetry when she was 15 years old, however, in quarantine, she’s been sharpening up her skills more than ever. She has written over 40 poems, topics ranging from her very personal experiences, to the flaws in our modern society.
Alexa Rasnick is a poet from New York. She is fourteen years old and a younger sister. She attends the ninth grade at Avenues The World School. When not at school, she volunteers at organizations like Days For Girls, City Harvest, and her school’s reducing waste club. She enjoys writing about issues like sexism, racism and climate change and current emotions.
Katie Rebhan is 16 years old and from McLean, Virginia. Writing is her favorite pastime, as she believes it is a way for her to share her ideas and passions with others, and in particular, she enjoys writing short stories, essays, and plays, some of which have won writing contests. In addition to writing, Katie plays volleyball and golf and serves as a referee for her county volleyball league. She is also an editor of her school’s yearbook and newspaper, and in her free time, she loves to read and bake.
Drishti Reddy is a fifteen-year old student from India who has previously been published in Robin Age Magazine and is an editor for Polyphony Lit.
Rachel Reid is a 16-year-old from Blairsville, Georgia and is an upcoming junior in high school. She has written and been published at teenink.com and has received an Editor's Choice Award for her poem "I've Walked Without Purpose."
Maya Renaud-Levine is sixteen years old, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She has a passion for podcasts, politics, singing and playing piano, and will never turn down a good crime novel. Her poetry is published or forthcoming in The WEIGHT Journal, Idle Ink, Eunoia Review, The Blue Marble Review and TRUANT LIT, and is a national winner of the American High School Poets Just Poetry!!! National Poetry Quarterly.
Juheon (Julie) Rhee is a 15-year-old student and is currently attending International School Manila. During her free time, she enjoys reading Agatha Christie’s mysteries and hanging out with her friends. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in K’in Literary Journal, Indolent Books, 580 Split, Lunch Ticket, Cleaver Magazine among others, and has been recognized by Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs.
Soheon Rhee is a twelve-year-old student who is currently attending the International School of Manila. During her free time, she likes hanging out with her friends and reading books such as “How to Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. Her poems have been published in the Heritage Review, and are inspired by multicultural and multilingual backgrounds.
Aatika Riaz is a 13-year-old writer from Islamabad, Pakistan. She frequently writes for Write the World.
Olivia Robertson is a 13-year-old aspiring journalist and author. She lives in Scarsdale, New York, and she has been in more than a few writing workshops over the last couple years. Her work has been published in one of the workshops' online magazines.
Avery Russell is a female black 16 year old who is an emerging writer living in Brooklyn, New York. She enjoys poetry, reading, and watching movies. She has recently become involved with organizing at her school to diversify the curriculum. She has been published in small magazines such as Oneul Zine and Casualzine.
Samantha Russell lives in Rhode Island. She is seventeen years old and entering her senior year of high school, and she is constantly writing personal pieces for herself, those of which include poetry, personal memoirs, vignettes, and creative nonfiction. Her poem "Immunity" was selected for inclusion in Notable Works' Call for Poetry.
Kirti Sachan is a 22-year-old open-mic poet and Mirakee writer from India. She often recites her poems during emcees for her college fest. She loves writing satires about both the digital way of life and the stresses of city life. Her writing is inspired by her travels, through deserts to mountains to plateaus to rainforests; for her, nature breeds creativity.
Clare Sacks is a sixteen-year-old junior from upstate New York. She has won awards for other poetry through Talent Unlimited.
Eileen Sadati is a 15-year-old poet from Southern California who uses her writing to answer her life's most pressing questions. She talks about her identity as a first-generation American, confusions, and the realizations she's made with age. Eileen enjoys writing, history, social studies, and hopes to continue learning about these topics in the future.
Nada Salem is a 16-year-old high school student in Ontario, Canada. She uses writing to process her experiences and the world around her. Besides publications in anthologies and local magazines, she has experience writing for various organizations as well as her school newspaper.
Sanchi is 16 years old and hails from Gharaunda, Haryana. She is a unicorn believer and selenophile, a procrastinator who finds solace in writing. She has published some of her work in anthologies and is beta reading for a client.
Somtochukwu Sandra is a 21-year-old student from Nigeria. She writes her emotions on paper as she finds it difficult to express herself orally.
K. Scopes is a 15-year-old aspiring writer in California who procrastinates way too much. She loves writing fictional prose—specifically fantasy and sci-fi. When she isn't writing, Scopes enjoys drinking coffee, going on walks, reading, and obsessing over fictional characters. You can find her on Instagram! @kscopeswrites
Julia Seebach is a 15-year-old from New Jersey. Her teachers have been encouraging her to share her work, but she's too shy to let people she knows read her work. She found Cathartic's page on Instagram and thought that a bunch of people she doesn't know might make her more comfortable to judgement!
Kimberly Seodarsan is 17 years old. She is from Ozone Park, New York. She has recently been noticed as a semi finalist in a separate poem contest, as well as working to compile a book of poems.
MahRukh Shah, aged 19, is a poetess & writer. She finds peace in poetry & prose ; her form of catharsis.
Afrah Shekh (19) hails from India, but has lived her whole life in the UAE. In her free time, she can be seen eating a tub of ice cream and watching documentaries on serial killers. She would describe her writing as a trainwreck, and what a wreck it truly is.
Caroline Shi is a 16-year-old from New York. She enjoys writing for fun and tries to do so as often as possible in her free time.
Tula Singer is a 16-year-old Cuban-American currently studying in Havana, Cuba at the Centro Educativo Español de La Habana. She has been published on reedsy.com and was a finalist in the Young Playwrights Competition in New York. She has also won four awards in secondary school for her writing. To her, inspiration comes from experience, which can be really inconvenient since she is still very young. Her stories are often a slice of her life and experiences—filled with jazz, friends, places, and chocolate. She writes because she cannot let it go.
Sameeksha Singh is a 16-year-old writer from India. She writes for Write the World.
Fathima Shafrina Sirajudeen is a 21-year-old professional poet from Sri Lanka. She has fallen in love with books for a long time, the magical words of fiction and descriptions of feelings which make her live. She has written for many magazines, and one of her books is soon to be published.
Annalise Sison is a fourteen year old from Virginia, US. She has taken no specific writing training, but has taken an Omnibus class and has experience in scriptwriting as a school morning announcement producer. Annalise is an actress and dancer, and enjoys creative writing, reading, and sketching in her free time.
Phoebe Skok is a high school senior from Issaquah, Washington who spends most of her time daydreaming of pastries and far-away lands. A former blogging intern for CIEE during her foreign exchange in 2019, as well as a national collegiate Model United Nations position paper award winner in spring 2020 and author of an in-progress cookbook, she has always relied on writing to express herself. When she's not drafting personal essays or song lyrics, Phoebe enjoys testing new recipes and delivering them to her friends.
Isabel Su is a junior at The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. She edits for her school's literary magazine, ink., as well as for her school newspaper. When she isn't writing, she enjoys dancing, making art, and listening to podcasts.
Millie Su is a 16-year-old from Issaquah, Washington. Although she has no "official" writing experience, she holds a deep passion for the written language and never regrets her time spent working on pieces. Writing has always been a source of comfort to her, allowing a momentary escape from this world. She is a strong believer in learning to love oneself through acceptance.
Shi Yang Su is an 16-year-old high school student from China. She is studying creative writing in school; she really enjoys reading poems and would like to share her peoms with the world. Currently, Su focuses more on writing peoms about culture conflict and religion belief.
Jaiden Thompson is a 15-year-old writer from Washington state, looking for their soul through writing verse and prose on occasion. As a raging member of the LGBT community, their poems more than often venture into queer themes and concepts. Other motifs within their writing include religion/mythology, racism, and the struggles of adolescence. Their writing will later be published through the Young Writer's Initiative this July.
Sanya Tinaikar is a 15-year-old emerging writer and student from Pennsylvania. She thoroughly enjoys reading and spends her spare moments with a book in hand. She is honored to have her work featured in Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine.
Cindy Tran is a sixteen-year-old writer from Boston, Massachusetts. She is a staff writer for Unpublished Magazine and Reclamation Magazine, and has published her work in a variety of other publications, including Overachiever Magazine, Ogma Magazine, and Boston Teens In Print. When she's not writing, Cindy is playing Animal Crossing into the ungodly hours of the night, reading until dawn, and breaking the strings of her violin. She hopes to be an author in the future.
Trinh Tran is sixteen years old. She attends Milpitas High School in Milpitas, California. She has been passionate about creative writing from a young age and enjoys experimenting with different types of writing.
Jessica Tsang is a 16-year-old based in Hong Kong. At the age of five, she found that drawing stories was better than simply drawing, then found that writing stories was better than drawing them. When she is not writing or contemplating the meaning of life, you can find her studying, playing music, or drowning herself in copious amounts of green tea.
Lauwrensia Tuder is a 16-year-old from London, United Kingdom. She has some writing experience through participation in her school's newspaper club.
Anoushka Turner is 14 years old. She is from a town in South-East England and has only ever previously written for schoolwork or for fun. She is previously unpublished. Usually she writes short stories or creative descriptions.
Jhermayne Ubalde is a 16-year-old student from Australia. She runs a writing blog on Write the World and can consistently be found dashing for a pen the moment she gets a good idea for her next poem. She is a full-time science nerd and dabbles (often painfully) in short story.
Ronnie Volman is a 15 year old writer from California. She serves as a staff writer and associate editor for The Incandescent Review, and has previously participated in Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth’s writing programs. In her free time, she loves to read, practice piano and enjoy fresh air at the beach.
Julia Vu is a 16-year old student from the Bay Area. Having struggled with mental illness, Julia is a passionate mental health advocate and founded an international advocacy organization called Operation Dopamine in 2020. She documents her cycles with decline, relapse, and recovery through her poetry. Julia hopes to empower others and embrace the beauty of her own mental illness by sharing the letters she never intended to send. Julia has a fascination for the medical sciences and is currently conducting individual research on dacarbazine (DTIC) chemotherapy drug resistance in melanoma.
Sunny Vuong is a 15-year-old Asian-American poet who strings her heart together between stanzas of poems and chapters of prose. She’s often writing about her experiences as a young girl of color, the trials of being a member of several minority groups, or otherwise age typical teenager bouts of dreams and fantasies. Some things she adores include the Oxford comma, irony, and missed opportunities.
Felicity Wang is a 12-year-old avid reader and writer from Seattle, Washington.
Jessica Wang is a 16-year-old from Long Island with a passion for writing. She is the editor of the teen literary magazine called icelollyreview.com and can be found daydreaming and blending acai bowls.
Margaret Wang is a 14-year-old student from Arizona. If it's not 100 degrees out, she can often be seen contemplating the universe and engaging in similarly productive activities from her backyard. Her work can be found on Prose.
Olivia Wang, age 17, is from Issaquah, Washington and will be studying at the University of Washington in the fall. She is an avid musician who enjoys performing around the community and volunteering at local events. Although Olivia has not had any formal training in writing, she enjoys writing about mental illnesses as well as LGBTQ+ awareness and acceptance.
Sage Wang is a 13-year-old from Sugar Land, Texas. Since she was 6, she's loved writing her own poems and short stories, which are such a personal form of self-expression to her. In her free time, she enjoys playing the cello and trying to beat her brother at ping-pong.
Channeling her regrets into poetry, Yun-Fei Wang, 16, is your average sad high school student from the country of Taiwan. To her, words are colorless sunsets and the first light of dawn. She's not so sure what it means either, but she intends to find out with the rest of her life. Look for her in the coldest midnights, or @immortalrainpoetry on Instagram.
Pravartika Wankhede is a 16-year-old writer from Prayagraj, India. She has written previously for local newspapers, online platforms such as Write the World and Prose. As an International Fellow of Write the World's Civics in Action programme with the National Children's Campaign and Facing History and Ourselves, she also focuses on journalistic, socio-political writing.
Emily Way is a 15-year-old writer. She comes from a small town in Ontario, Canada, and her writing experience is limited to work at school as well as occasional short story or poetry writing for personal entertainment.
Mehr Walia is a twenty-year-old from Punjab, India. She is currently pursuing dentistry. Her friends worry how fazed she looks while reading the news; she worries about them being unfazed in return. You will find her making spaghetti & conversations at the most ungodly hours.
A. Wong is a 14-year-old student poet located in the West Coast of the United States. She enjoys telling stories through poetry, as she is too lazy to write novels. You can find her work on Write the World and Prose.
Kailey Wong is a 16-year-old student from the San Francisco Bay Area. She likes to do creative writing occasionally and loves to read. During her free time, she can be found playing piano, listening to Broadway, or watching sci-fi shows.
Keon Wong is a 17-year-old from Hong Kong. He is currently taking his A Levels and has a knack for all things photography and writing. He also has an obsession with good food.
Asher Wood is a 16-year-old writer who is based in Oxfordshire, England. Writing has taken over her spare time, though it’s currently just a hobby. She is an eccentric for houseplants - currently at 25 - and has successfully covered her bedroom in leaves. She's a huge advocate for bringing exposure to mental health and hopes to show that through her writing.
Jacqueline Wu is a 16-year-old writer from Long Island, New York. She is a writer and editor for her acclaimed school magazine, Cinnabar. She has also won several writing competitions and awards, such as the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Jacqueline enjoys painting, drawing, writing, and playing the viola, and she hopes to continue to inspire and empower through her words.
Olivia Yang is a rising junior from Charlotte, North Carolina. She is a 2020 American Voices Nominee for the Northeastern region and has been nationally recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing awards. Her work has also been recognized by Nimrod International, The Courant, the Carl Sandburg Poetry Contest, and more. She is an editor for The Courant, Galliard International and is on the board of her school’s Asian Society and Writer’s Alliance. In her free time, she likes to scout out discreet boba shops and watch summer sunsets.
Erin Ye is a 16-year-old writer from Long Island. An editor for Interstellar Literary Review, her work is also forthcoming in Gossamer Lit. Erin draws inspiration from her life experiences, Greek mythology, and the sky. She loves smoothies and being outside. You can find more of her work at www.erinwritesessays.weebly.com.
Peggy Yin is an 18-year old from Port Jefferson, New York. She is the editor-in-chief of her school’s literary magazine and the founder and editor-in-chief of The Current (pjcurrent.com), an independent newsmedia platform for student voices. Her writing has been recognized by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. An aspiring cognitive neuroscientist, she also loves science and is an award-winning flutist and vocalist.
Haemin Yun is an eighth grader currently studying at International School Manila. She lives in the Philippines but is Korean. She enjoys writing which takes her imagination and thinking to another world. Her work was previously published in The Heritage Review.
Kailani Zhang is a 15-year-old living in Illinois, in the U.S. She loves writing in any shape or form, and particularly poetry as a personal interest which settled in over this summer. On a poetry grind, she’s posted many poems on her account on a writing platform, Write the World, and also earned a position as the assistant poetry editor on a literary magazine, the Things Unsaid. Some hobbies she has other than writing includes practicing Pixar themes on her piano, baking with her family and friends, watching classical movies like Ratatouille, and making very bad puns.
Sophia Zhang is a 15-year-old residing in Chicago, Illinois. She has been stringing words together in her head since her inception and is very happy to channel them into readable packets of intrigue for other people to read. Besides writing, Sophia spends her time playing piano, volleyball, or her favorite song on repeat.
Shira Zur is a rising senior in high school and lives in Seattle, Washington. She has loved to read and write ever since she can remember and hopes to pursue doing what she loves in the future. Her work has been published in The WEIGHT Journal and Truant Lit.
Oyindoubra Akika is a 14-year-old Nigerian Christian. She loves writing poetry and fiction stories. She has only written fiction and poetry for fun, but hopes to impact her society. She believes the world needs a bit of kindness and magic.
Mona Alaa is a 16-year-old junior in high school in Egypt. Writing is Mona's way of making sense of the world and of her own experiences. She describes poetry as "her anchor through the raging storms of life".
Aisha Al-Tarawneh is a 16-year-old living in Qatar. She has previously been featured in The Heritage Review. Her interests include extreme sports and writing poetry at night.
MP Armstrong is a disabled queer writer from Ohio, studying English and history at Kent State University. Their work appears or is forthcoming in Perhappened, Prismatica Magazine, and Hominum Journal, among others, and their debut chapbook, who lives like this for such a cheap price?, is forthcoming from Flower Press. Find them online @mpawrites and at mpawrites.wixsite.com/website.
Abby Bacall is a 16-year-old high-school junior from New Jersey. This is her second year as editor of her school's Art and Literary Magazine. She has been writing independently for many years, and she has taken classes such as Creative Writing and AP English Language. She is also a writing tutor at her school.
Ellen J. Baddeley is a 15-year-old writer and playwright from England, who gains inspiration from world conflict and the surroundings about her.
Jason Ball is a 17-year-old student from Apex, North Carolina. He's written in the past but had never sought publishing until now. Mental health has always been a struggle, and writing was a way to look at abstract emotions in an unchanging medium. He hopes that his personal experiences might make someone else out there know that they aren't alone in their struggles.
Oliver Bankier is a 13-year old from Berkeley, California. He has been writing poems and essays with a writing coach for four years and has published several pieces at TeenInk.com. His Poem “The Protest Sign Speaks” was inspired by Eve Ewing’s “The Train Speaks” which appears in her 1919 poetry collection.
Zainab Batool is a 18 y/o poet, writer and photographer from Lahore, Pakistan. Inspired by topics like ache, grief, love, desire, sins, death, she has been writing under the pseudonym of "azaina". Through writing and poetry, she tries to find solace and a home in someone else's heavy heart. For her, poetry is the name of soothing one another's aches by dwelling in their beauty. You can access more of her poetry online at her wordpress blog (dearanxiousheart.art.blog) and on her Instagram page (Instagram.com/azainart).
Madeleine Benson is an 18 year old girl from Corpus Christi, Texas. She enjoys reading and writing in her spare time.
Ramyani Bhattacharya is a 19-year-old student living in Kolkata, India. Her works have appeared in Spillwords Press and the Student Edition of The Bombay Review. She has her own Wordpress blog. Writing for her is an escape from the apparent meaninglessness of life.
Skye Bowdon is a 15-year-old poet from Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is a Creative Writing major at New Mexico School for the Arts. Her work had been published in Dreams of Montezuma, An Anthology of Poetry and Prose New Mexico School for the Arts. Skye was a silver key medalist in the 2020 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.
Kaiya Braam is a 13-year-old from Queensland, Australia. As a young child, they always loved reading and writing, and enjoyed creating fictional worlds where anything is possible. Kaiya also loves music and acting, and has participated in many writing competitions. They strive for equality everywhere, and want to create a world where there is hope, freedom, and adventure every day.
Syed Umar Bukhari is an 18-year-old writer from Pakistan. A poet for more than half of his life, he is an author of two books. Six Times Forever, his first book, was a hit among the audience and his peers, dealing with important issues like mental health and hopeless romanticism. Honesty and rawness are the pillars of his work. He loves alliterations and is compelled to perfectionism in everything he does.
Nattie Bumpo is a 17-year-old girl with a ridiculous fear of outer space and a love for all things red. From a small town in the PNW, she writes for a couple of newspaper corporations. She is family-oriented, but that doesn't stop her from reaching for her dreams of writing for the most avid readers and young learners. She hopes to remind people of the relationships they should prioritize, outside cell phones and inside present surroundings.
Ciara Byrne is a 16-year-old writer from Colorado.
Alicia Cai is a 17-year-old living in Delaware. She's been writing since she was fifteen. She loves making meaning of the mundane, and connecting disparate concepts and objects to each other as if the entirety of existence is one galactic system.
Jacqueline Cai is a rising junior in Sammamish, Washington. She enjoys playing violin and chamber music with her friends. She does not have previous writing experience, but enjoys writing poetry occasionally. Aside from this, she is part of the robotics team at her school, which usually volunteers at community events to raise awareness for STEM.
Luciana Camacho is a 17-year-old high school student from Costa Rica. She has written multiple short stories, novels and poems both on the online writing platform Wattpad and on Instagram as WinterWriter11 and The Old Romantic, respectively. Her writing is mostly inspired by her struggles with mental health and her deep love for superheroes.
J. M. Chadwick is a seventeen-year-old writer located near Boston, Massachusetts. She is a senior in high school and aside from writing, she enjoys dance, painting, and film photography. She is a poetry and prose editor for Kalopsia Literary Journal and has had work published in Heartbroken Zine and Floral Zine.
Clara Chai, a sixteen-year-old secondary school student from Singapore, has been writing short stories since she was a child. She draws inspiration from the world around her and her work has been published on several platforms. Find her at @writings_by_dawn on Instagram.
Jaewon Chang is a high school junior living in the Philippines. His works of poetry have been recognized by literary magazines, such as Cleaver Magazine, Track Four, and more. During his free time, Jaewon enjoys traveling the city on foot.
Justin Chang is a 17-year old from Issaquah, Washington. He is not an experienced writer, but he loves fried chicken! While claiming to lack writing skills, Justin is an advocate for strong and meaningful relationships, and is always willing to help those in need.
Sarah Chaudhry is a 15-year-old from Queens, New York. Sarah is currently a tenth grader at the Queens School of Inquiry and has taken a Creative Writing elective in her ninth-grade year.
Suzanna Chen is a sixteen-year-old secondary school student from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Emerging from previous struggles with mental illnesses, she wishes to encourage others to speak out and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health. She has no formal writing experience, but her works - mostly personal stories - can be found on various mental health awareness platforms. Although she acknowledges that her writing isn’t perfect - as English is her second language - she still hopes to spread positivity and share her experiences, hoping it would empower others.
Eunice Chi is a sophomore in high school from New Jersey. Her work has been recognized by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers in 2019 and 2020. In her free time she enjoys astrology books, strangely specific Spotify playlists, and painting.
Emma Chin is a 14 year old girl from New York. She has been writing since she was seven years old and has no prior publications. She is fond of writing contemporary fantasy and poetry, though she has dabbled in many other genres.
Lina Chokrane is a 16-year-old first-generation Moroccan; her parents are from Casablanca, Morocco. She was born and raised in New York City. She attends a French bilingual school in New York City called Lycée Français De New York. Additionally, she is a performing arts fanatic, meaning she is in love with the arts (musical theatre, theatre, filmmaking, etc... you name it!). When Lina isn’t at school, you’ll see her on stage singing, acting, dancing my heart out and even directing. Lina has never published anything professionally but has published several articles in her school magazine.
Mehrul Bari S. Chowdhury is a writer and poet from Dhaka, Bangladesh. He has recently completed his BA in English Literature, and has been published multiple times in the Six Seasons Review, Dhaka Tribune, Daily Sun, and The Daily Star.
Hannah Collier is 19 and currently lives in Waldorf, Maryland. Her poem "Opposition In the Time of Doubt" was submitted to her high school literary magazine, and she is currently submitting recent work to publication magazines.
Divyanshi Dash is a monochromatic leaves enthusiast from India. She is an 18-year-old girl who believes in love and kindness the most. She is an intersectional feminist who devotes a lot of time to writing and reading poetry. She is a contributor at Women's Republic. She's often found journaling if not ranting about feminism and what it takes to be a woman.
Siya Dhamija is a 16-year-old simple girl from India with her diary and poetry as her bestfriends. All she believes in is to be patient with herself as nothing in nature blooms all year.
Nikolai Dimasilaw is a 15-year-old writer from the Philippines. He enjoys writing novels, short stories, and poetry under the name Dimasilaw. He writes about everything under the sun, but particularly loves theological and mental health themes!
Isobel Dixon is a 17- year-old writer from the northern England. She has been writing poems and stories her whole life and has entered poetry and short story competitions since the age of 6 . Her favourite topics to write about are hopeless romantics and the emotions she deals with due to experiences that have tested her mental health. When Isobel is not writing, you will find her reading!
Ilana Drake is a 17-year-old writer from New York City. Ilana is a Seed in Seeds of Peace, a Rising Voices Fellowship alumna, a mentee in Girls Write Now, and a Bridger in YouthBridge-NY. Ilana served as a Young Leader of Manhattan and her work has been featured in Bright Lite, Highly Indy, The Forward, The Times of Israel, Jewish Women’s Archive, jGirls, Blue Marble Review, Crossed Paths, Fresh Ink for Teens, The Youth Voices Network & Day One “All of Love’s Vibes” zine, Girls Write Now blogs, Girls Write Now Anthologies (2019, 2020), and YouthBridge-NY blogs.
Bella Dy is a 15-year-old from the U.S. She started writing poetry regularly in March, at the beginning of the COVID-induced quarantine. After the world essentially shut down, writing became an escape from the harsh and tragic realities faced when a poet looks up from her pen.
Lara is a teenage girl who has lived in Ireland all her life. Although she usually works on getting a novel or two written up, she often tries her hand at poetry and prose too.
Shahd Mohamed Elgendy is a 17-year-old from Egypt. She has been creatively writing since 2017, and it is her biggest passion in life. She likes for her writings to bring out parts of life which are buried and hidden away from people, discovering new truths and realities within her words.
Sophia Emy is a 17-year-old high school senior. She currently attends Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, but is originally from Brooklyn, New York.
Zo Estacio is 17 and resides in the Philippines. She is a HUMSS student and writes sports and science articles for her school paper. She can be found doing calligraphy and staining every surface with ink in her spare time.
Umamah Farooq is a 17 year old poet from a small town in Pakistan. She loves to write poems on social issues and the ups and downs of life. You can read her work on her instagram blog @_i.writes_ .
Olivia "Liv" Farrar is a nineteen-year-old hailing from the mountainous state of Colorado. Not only is she an award-winning poet, but has a forthcoming poem in Foothills Magazine. When she's not writing or reading, she's either baking near a toasty fire or making a fire in the wilderness.
Lindy Feaster is a teenage poet from the Sonoran Desert. She is an avid music lover and climate activist. Among other things, she can usually be found talking to plants or listening to bluegrass. You can find more of her work in Dreamlism Magazine.
Ai Li Feng, 14, is an aspiring author and amateur artist located in the United States. Her works are written primarily in lowercase letters, capitalizing proper nouns alone, a stylistic choice inspired by Latin and Ancient Greek, both of which she has studied. Her writing has been featured by Write the World and the Heritage Review.
Elena Ferrari is a fifteen year old from Cambridge, Massachusetts who has been writing poems on napkins for as long as she can remember. She enjoyed heading her middle school’s literary magazine in 7th and 8th grade and is excited to be contributing to her high school’s literary magazine. She has been awarded Scholastic Keys for her writing and also loves to express her creativity through watercolor doodles and camera lenses.
isabella fiore is a seventeen year-old from suburban ontario. she enjoys prose, fall out boy, and wrapping herself in blankets like a burrito. her pieces detail anxiety, depression, sad love stories, and overall messiness.
Liz Franzone is a 21-year-old senior at Saint Leo University and an English Major with a minor in Creative Writing. She hails from Tarpon Springs, Florida and has been writing creatively since high school. Last year, her poem "Song of the Lake" was submitted into Saint Leo's Literary Magazine The Sandhill Review.
Daisy Friedman is a 17-year-old from Omaha, Nebraska. She has been writing for her school paper for four years, and is currently the Editor In Chief. Additionally, she won a National Scholastic Gold Medal in Poetry, and a Regional Silver Key in Memoir.
Jonathan Fu is a rising senior at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He is an ardent Classicist, studying both Latin and Ancient Greek, and loves to translate poems as well as compose creative fiction and nonfiction pieces alike. His work has been published in The Trouvaille Review, and he has received recognition from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
Gabrielle Galchen is a public high school NYC senior, where she has tried to pursue writing however possible (to be honest, she is semi-obsessed:)). Besides writing on her own, she is a mentee at Girls Write Now, a nonprofit organization that helps young women pursue their voice through writing. She’s also part of Climate Speaks, an organization committed to using spoken word poetry to spread the word about climate change. She often prefers poetry focusing on social justice or on her own experiences, yet also enjoys writing creative nonfiction and short stories.
Misty Gerber is a 14-year-old from Illinois. In her spare time, she loves to write, paint, and play sports.
Lily Gerhard is a 16-year-old disabled writer from Orange County. When she's not writing you can find her playing dungeons and Dragons typically as a bard or hanging out with her dogs Flower and Poe. She is currently studying creative writing and hopes to pursue a career in middle-grade fiction.
Lucy Goerzen lives in Canada, and she is 13 years old. When she is not writing short stories she can be found working on her novel, which does not currently have a title. You can find her on Instagram @lucyyem._ or Spotify @rainy.daze.
Mia Golden is 13 years old and lives in the Central Valley, California. She is an editor for the interstellar review, a lit magazine, and hopes to publish an anthology of poetry one day. Her writing has been featured on Write the World and Prose. Mia is passionate about activism and hopes that her writing can change the world for the better.
Katie Goldsmith is 17 years old and has lived in the United Kingdom all of her life. Previously, she has participated in writing competitions and has been published in a few children’s books throughout her time at school. Mainly, she writes for her own purpose and to reflect on her life.
Kyrah Gomes is a 17 year old student living in NYC who loves poetry, literature, making jewelry, and authentic self-expression. In her free time, she can probably be found making super specific Spotify playlists.
Dhwanee Goyal is a fifteen-year-old student from Maharashtra, India. When she's not trying to not fall asleep, she can be found reading, writing, or procrastinating. Pretty buildings make her heart beat fast, and she likes puns, sentences that trail off and...
Praniti Gulyani is a 16-year-old writer from India.
Aida Guo is a 16-year-old artist and writer from North Carolina. She was the Editor-in-Chief of her school's literary magazine, and the Assistant Editor-in-Chief for her school's news site. In her free time, she enjoys listening to indie and K-pop music, writing letters to friends, teaching younger students, and spending time with her friends and family.
Mai Ly Hagan is a seventeen-year-old who grew up in Vietnam. She currently attends Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut. Her favorite ice cream flavor is green tea.
Liana Handler is 16 years-old from Coral Springs, Florida. She grew up in New England; though her family moved to Florida as she entered middle school. She has been writing continuously for about three years, but the Creative Arts had been encouraged in her household which allowed her to create and tell stories since she was a young girl.
Zinnia Hansen is a high school student and poet from Port Townsend Washington. She has a tendency towards abstraction, but a deep love of the idiosyncrasies that make us human. Her work has been published through the Young Writers Project, and she has participated in The Hugo House Young Writers Cohort.
Quan Harris-Holley is a 17-year-old African-American prose writer from Charlotte, NC. He is a rising high school senior who plays soccer and makes skits in his free time.
Felipe Rodolfo Hendriksen studies Literature at Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina. He currently lives in Quilmes.
Eleanor Horne is a 17-year-old student living in London, England. She has been previously published in two poetry anthologies for Young Writers UK, and her work primarily focuses on identity and belonging. Her passions include film, literature, and gardening. When she is not writing she is doting on her muse and confidant, Jenkins the cat.
Naomi Horner is a 15-year-old from the United States of America. She has previous writing experience through Write the World and YA Writer's Club (under a pen name). Naomi likes writing free-verse poetry without capital letters and using metaphors without abandon. She enjoys singing, reading, cooking, and watching the rain fall outside her window.
Matt Hsu is a 17-year-old student from San Francisco, California. In his spare time, he enjoys playing tennis and eating dark chocolate. He writes about things like romance and Christmas trees, but he makes it spooky because it's more fun that way. Currently he's working on a mystery novel about a lonely assassin.
Lillian Colette Hughes is a two-time NaNoWriMo winner currently known in South Carolina as Summerville’s favorite young author. She’s an avid creator of new works of fiction and often can’t stop thinking about story ideas (which she doesn’t mind). When she isn’t writing, she enjoys creating music with her band, spending time with her pets, and learning to become a falconer. Lillian self-published her first book, The Golden Fur, at the age of eleven, and was awarded a 2020 Regional Gold Key by Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for her second novel, A Long Winter’s Journey. Now just fourteen years old and seventy thousand words into her third novel, Foxheart, Lillian is sure to have many more stories to share with you, her treasured readers, in the years to come.
Danielle Hutchinson is a sixteen-year-old who lives in Cornwall. Although her work varies from fiction to non-fiction, articles to poetry, it is uniform in its exploration of contemporary issues. Her passion for the environment has led to her poetry being featured in a charitable anthology ‘Planet in Peril’ and a scientific essay about human-induced vs. natural climate change being published in ‘The Scholar’ magazine.
Elyse Hwang is a 15-year-old writer from the Los Angeles area. She works for her school's literary magazine and has had her work recognized by the PTA's Reflection Contest. When not writing or musing about her future, you can find her wondering where her childhood has gone.
D.Y. Ink is a 13-year-old writer living in the American South who finds her footing in the lack of one. You can find her writing at Write the World or Prose.
Kian Iuchi-Fung is a 15 year old non-binary writer and music producer from the California Bay Area. Their experience as a gender non-conforming person of color gives them an interesting outlook on the social construction of gender and the absent-minded emphasis that we put on it in our everyday lives. Their influences range from French classics to 90s anime to other queer and GNC poets.
Asra Jafarey is a 20 year old university student from Pakistan who enjoys all forms of art and shares her own on her Instagram page @lilacfingertips.
Rishabh Jain is an 18-year-old writer from India. He writes as a hobby and has been doing so for around a year. You can find him at @theritingritual on Twitter and theritingritual.wordpress.com to check out his blog.
Reilly James is a sixteen year old writer living in Beverly Hills, California. After moving there from rural Australia, she's found her goal in life- to successfully publish her work.
Lexi Janssen is fifteen years old and a resident in Denver, Colorado. Her writing experience is being a staff writer for another magazine company called Second Revolution. She has a huge passion for writing that she is currently working on a book called December. She loves to write about anything that has hit home or has a huge passion. One of her goals is to become a teen advocating for mental health issues and teens with disabilities. In her free time she loves to write, read, hang out with friends and family, and go to her youth group.
Varada Kaiga is from India. She is 22 years old. She reads a lot and thinks a lot. That sums up why she loves to write. She started writing in her Instagram page recently. She wants to impact the world through her writings. When she writes, it calms her mind. It makes her feel belonged. And she is really looking forward to achieving something in this field.
AM Kamaal is a Nigerian poet and writer. When he's not writing, he reads Ezra Pound, and Jericho Brown, listens to Àyìnlá Ọmọwúrà songs, and watches Hollywood. He is 19 years old.
Minsung Kang is a 15 years old student living in the Philippines. He likes playing football and basketball with his friends as well as listening to Ballads. He is also interested in studying science, especially physics.
Jasmine Kapadia is a 16-year-old poet from the Bay Area. She has work featured or forthcoming in Same Faces, The Daphne Review, Malala Fund's Assembly, the Eunoia Review, and The Rising Phoenix Review, among others. Find her on Instagram @jazzymoons
Lani Kasperovic is a 17-year-old from Australia. She has been published in three Australian youth collections. Lani has also participated in online publications and editing assistance for three years.
Teo Kate-Lyn is a 19-year-old from Singapore. She has always loved to write as a way of expressing her feelings - especially when she takes a strong stance on an issue.
Amanda Kay is a current sophomore at Santa Clara High School in California, USA. She enjoys swimming, reading, and drinking a good cup of tea. In her free time, she likes to write revenge stories with her best friend (especially about a certain reptilian) and has enjoyed writing for most of her life.
Kyra Kaya is a 17 year old Native Hawaiian author from Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Kyra enjoys writing stories about the people and events that have impacted her life. She has been recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for her work. When not writing, she enjoys baking chocolate chip cookies, swimming at the beach, and perfecting her Mario Kart skills.
Emma Keas is a 14-year-old writer from California. She is currently in a love triangle with poetry and art and spending her time maintaining a hold on both. When she is not professing her love for them, she is either taking a swim in her mind or fresh from a dip in its waters.
Lori Khadse is a 17 year old writer from New Jersey and the founder of The Elysian Muse Youth Literary Magazine. Her works are published or upcoming in literary journals like Polyphony Lit, the Apprentice Writer, Short Édition, and A Lack of Clarity. When she isn't writing, she loves to strum at her guitar and make hot chocolate!
Laiba Karim Khan is a student from Karachi, Pakistan. She is eighteen years old and has previously studied biological sciences. She started writing since she was fifteen and mostly wrote poetry and lyrical narratives. Although she now writes articles and writes other creative writing genres, she still is passionate about writing.
Michael Kharadze is a 16-years-old writer from Tbilisi, Georgia.
Doeun (Jessica) Kim is a 14-year-old, born in South Korea and currently studying at the International School of Manila. Her work has been recognised by The Heritage Review and Austin Poets International. She enjoys writing flash fiction in her spare time, inspired by her culture and identity.
Hwisung Ko is a 13-year-old who is from the country of the Republic of Korea. He enjoys drinking hot tea on sunday mornings while listening to calm music.
Evelína Kolářová (she/her) is a 21-year-old writer from the Czech Republic whose poems have been previously published in literary magazines such as Really System or Sink Hollow. Her work has made the finalist list of the Poetry Matters Project's Literary Prize 2019. She is currently studying an undergraduate programme at the University of South Bohemia and is the Editor in Chief and Social Media Manager of a student magazine published at the Faculty of Arts.
Caitlyn Kong is 11 years old, close to being 12. She was born in Washington, and her dad is from China while her mom is from Taiwan. She has loved writing since as long as she can remember. Currently, she has a writer's blog, in which she writes fiction stories as well as events from her life. Check it out at http://readlaughandfun.com.
Shayan Kothari is a 17-year-old high schooler who resides in the Bay Area. He draws inspiration from the countless submissions he reads as an editor for Polyphony Lit. His work has been featured in Same Faces Collective.
Siddharth Krishna is a 20-year-old from Coimbatore, India, and currently studies at the Kumaraguru College of Technology. He has been writing since he got the opportunity to write a short story for a book called Catapult with 20 other young people. He has written short stories and non-fiction articles for college clubs as well.
ZiQing Kuang is a 15-year-old from Arizona. She interned with Girls' Life Mag over the past couple months and is working with Five Star Journal at the moment.
Anoushka Kumar is a 15-year-old writer from Mumbai, India who loves labradoodles, indie rock and feminist/queer activism. You can find most of her work on Write the World and the prose.com.
Sophia Kunkel is an 18 year old literature-lovin’ high school senior from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, though she has also lived in Indiana and Texas (the latter of which was her favorite). She has been writing as long as she can remember, and currently, has several complete fiction novel drafts; poetry is a genre that she only dabbles in. Sophia also serves as Marketing Director for The Young Writers Initiative in her free time and co-owns a popular writing tips account on Instagram, too.
Minjung Kyun is an 18-year-old from South Korea attending Chattahoochee High School in the United States. She has been to eight different schools in five different countries. She has been recognized by the Scholastics Arts and Writing Awards and has published her writing in various places such as K’in Literary Journal and Heritage Review.
May Lafer-Kirtner is fourteen, and lives in Eugene, OR. When she was eight years old, she discovered that she could write stories like the ones she read, and from then on, she knew she had to be a writer. She has had two poems previously published, one in a smash school magazine and one in The Weight Journal.
Sariah Lake is a fifteen-year-old high school student from the Caribbean. She hopes to create writing that all audiences can relate to and feel seen and encouraged by. Her work can be found online on her blog, sarissshelves.blogspot.com or her Instagram page sariwrites_
Paris LeClaire is a fifteen-year-old sophomore from West Michigan. Paris has been writing all through her childhood, and she never plans to stop. Her prior work has been featured in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.
Amy Lee is a 12-year-old writer from South Korea. She was born in Germany, and moved to the Philippines at a young age. She enjoys writing and reading fantasy, poetry and many other genres of books. This is her first publication.
Avalon Felice Lee is a 16-year-old California native. She enjoys writing trippy revenge fan-fics about chameleons with her best friend. Like most Asian kids who write for fun, she plays a stringed instrument.
Erin Lee is a 16-year-old Asian-American from North Carolina. They use writing as a way to express emotions that they would otherwise suppress, with much of their work centering around topics of mental health. They can be found on Archive of Our Own (AO3) under the pseudonym aerixlee.
Lauren Lee is a Junior attending Yongsan International High School in Seoul, South Korea. She is currently building her creative writing portfolio in preparation for enrollment in a university. Her other hobbies include volleyball and baking.
Stella Lei is a sixteen-year-old writer from the suburbs of Pennsylvania. She is on the staff of her school's literary magazine, and her work has been nationally recognized by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
Oz Leshem is a fifteen year old poet from Taos, New Mexico. Oz attends New Mexico School for the Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Oz was a finalist for the 2020 Santa Fe Youth Poet Laureate and a silver medalist in the 2020 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for Poetry. Recently, Oz was selected as a 2020 Miller Scholar for excellence in Creative Writing at New Mexico School for the Arts.
Elise Lester is a 14-year-old gender non-conforming writer from Christchurch, New Zealand. They have been writing since they were 10, and enjoys writing short stories and poetry for their school news and competitions, as well as art and illustration. They are currently working on their first novel, based around the twelve Zodiac signs. As a young LGBT+ writer, Elise aims to share their struggles with identity and stigma through their writing.
Amy Li is a rising sophomore at Richmond Hill High School in Georgia. She enjoys photography, playing piano, and procrastinating. You can find her on Instagram @twinkie_pamphlet.
Avery Lim is a 15-year-old student living in Singapore. She has submitted many works of literature under various names on various platforms and was a member of her country's Creative Arts Programme. In her spare time she enjoys painting, cooking and strumming her guitar.
Natasha Lim is an 18-year-old writer from Singapore. She is a final-year psychology student, and writes to express all the things she can’t say. In her spare time, she enjoys drinking copious amounts of coffee and reading books that make her cry.
Naomi Ling is an emerging student writer and poet on the East Coast, USA. Her poetry and prose often grapple with the bare and the unknown, nostalgia and new love, childhood and womanhood. She has been recognized by the 2019 Scholastic Writing Awards and several acclaimed journals. When she's not writing, you can find her swooning over SZA, devising lame pick-up lines for her friends, or drowning herself in Vietnamese iced coffee.
Samantha Liu is a sixteen year-old writer from New Jersey. Her works have been recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and The New York Times and have appeared in Blue Marble, The Eunoia Review, The Lumiere Review, and more. When she is not writing, you can find her discovering obscure Spotify artists.
Desiree Lomick is a 20-year-old from and currently living in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is a college student who majors in psychology and minors in creative writing, and her writing experience includes pieces she has written for class and for herself.
Luiza Louback is a 17-year-old Brazilian girl. Passionate about literature, beyond reading and writing, she founded a social literary project, advocating the right to read in Latin America. Luiza won scholarships in the Cambridge Immerse Essay Competition and first place in the IFMG poetry competition.
Valerie Mae is a 13-year-old author who lives in New South Wales, Australia.
Nandini Rabindra Maharana is 16 years old and lives in Delhi, India. She is an editor for her school magazine and also a member of an independent teen-led organisation which works in bringing awareness amongst people about sensitive issues like domestic violence, mental health, etc. She has previously participated in Queens Commonwealth Essay and won a bronze medal. She loves to read and write stuff. Also she has an Instagram handle (@_flickeringchaos_) where she posts writeups to spread hope and happiness.
Nikhita Makam is 16 years old, too young to know much but too old to get away with things. She is the author of '14 works by a 14 year old' and calls herself a 'high school student by day, poet by night'. She believes that poetry has power, something that her mother taught her. She finds happiness in reading, writing, gardening, octopuses, and wondering about ladybugs. She tries her best to maintain a balance between all of her hobbies, school and the common dreaded enemy to all high school students- homework.
Bhavika Malik is a high school freshman from Gurgaon, India. She is fourteen, and she recently began writing. Her work was published in the Ice Lolly Review a while back.
Clarissa Mae Maravilla is a 16-year-old from the Philippines. She started writing when she was 8 years old. Writing such stories and poetries somehow became a hobby at the same time as her passion. It's her stress relief, and whenever she is writing the words that she bleeds, it inspires her to continue living her life to fulfill her purpose.
Maria-Anna Maridi is a sophomore in high-school from Greece, as well as an aspiring fiction writer, writer and editor for the Teen Magazine, as well as co-founder of a youth organisation called Coequalorg.
Sonia Mehta is an emerging writer and a junior at a high school in Central Ohio. Sonia started writing poetry as a child, but by high school, while she still loved the beauty of poetry, the writer felt the solitude it imposed. She switched to prose. According to Miss Mehta, “In the world of fiction writing, I am always in the company of the characters I am creating.” Sonia submitted several of her works to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. They won a gold and two silver keys. Her story “Porch” went on to win a National Gold Medal in 2020. Other stories have been published in the Secret Attic, the Blue Marble Review, and the Apprentice Writer. Currently, Miss Mehta is an editor of Polyphony Lit Magazine.
Anika Meisel is an 18-year-old from Seattle, Washington. Currently a Senior at Garfield High School, she has been playing violin for thirteen years. As an adoptee from Fuling, Sichuan Province, China, her Chinese heritage is one of the most prevalent topics in her writing, along with that of music. In the future, she hopes to join an orchestra, but wouldn't mind writing program notes on the side — something she has done for the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Ella Mevissen is a 14 year old girl living in the United States. She finds solace in creation, and her favorite hobby is making words into art. You can find her dancing in the moonlight, singing with the birds, and finding the simple joys in life. Her work has been published or forthcoming in the Ice Lolly Review and Write The World.
Adya Mohapatra is a 16-year-old from Washington. She is excited to contribute work to this magazine and add to her previous writing experience. She has published works on another website designed for teens, and she has always enjoyed participating in local writing competitions. She is also in charge of her school’s news site, where they post global and local news, opinion pieces, reviews, and featured topics.
Emma Mujica is a fourteen-year old girl from Agency, Missouri. She has been writing in some form her whole life, but only started writing poetry a few years ago. She enjoys the cathartic experience. No pun intended.
Erin Mullens has been writing since she was 11 years old, which is not a very long time when you consider that she is only a sophomore in high school. She lives in Montgomery Country, Maryland, and when she’s not writing, she’s probably reading War and Peace or studying. You can find her on Instagram at @phemios_minstrel.
Kennedi Munson is a 15-year-old blogger, photographer, and artist based in Mexico City. Her writing experience predominantly consists of her blog (koigopop ) which focuses on the issues of marginalized individuals, along with a variety of forms of poetic writing. Having lived there for over 5 years, Kennedi managed to learn about both the essence of community and culture, but also the beauty within herself and individuals around the world.
Dami Mustapha is a 17 year old high school senior from Fort Worth,TX who enjoys writing poetry in her free time along with baking. Things from cupcakes to lemon bars. She has a dream to change the world one word at a time and is slowly making it into a reality. She has been writing poetry for a year in a half and wishes to continue through college.
Vindhya Nagandla is a 13-year-old how goes to George H. Moody Middle School in Richmond, VA. She has been writing since fifth grade. In seventh grade, she took a Creative Writing class and has still been taking it.
Tanvi Nagar is a student of class 11 at Delhi Public School, Gurgaon. She has been writing for the past eight years and is passionate about public speaking, travelling, playing sports and reading. She has contributed to national newspapers like ‘The Times of India’ and ‘Hindustan Times’; magazines like the ‘Neev Magazine’ ‘Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine’ ‘Anti-Heroin Chic’ ‘Ice Lolly Review’ ‘The Hearth Magazine’ ‘Elysian Muse Magazine’ ‘The Weight Journal’ ‘Secret Attic’ ‘Life in 10 Minutes Magazine’ ‘Risen Zine’ and ‘Children’s World’ and anthologies like ‘The Last Flower of Spring’ and ‘Riding on a Summer Train’ by Delhi Poetry Slam; ‘The Great Indian Anthology’ by Half Baked Beans and ‘She the Shakti’ by Authors Press. She is the Editor in her school and has authored three books titled, ‘A Treasure Trove of Poetic Wonderland’ ‘A Bountiful of Rhythmic Stories’ and ‘My Book of Short Stories and Poems’ and two research papers which were published in the International Journal of Multidisciplinary Educational Research. She has won the Eye Level Literary Award 2018 by Daekyo, South Korea; the Create Change Challenge 2020 by the University of Queensland, Australia; the Millennial Essay Writing Contest by UNESCO and Takthe.
Jyotsna Nair is a 16-year-old currently living in India, as well as her own imagination. Her work has been published in Canvas Literary Journal, the anthology Writers on Earth: New Visions For Our Planet, and The Apprentice Writer. She is a firm believer in the power of banana bread, and has been known to consume copious amounts in alarmingly short intervals of time.
Kyla Nano is a 17-year-old writer from California who reads and hosts her podcast episodes on a daily basis. When she's not doing either, she writes, researches, or spends time with her family watching Netflix. As a literary transcendentalist, she loves to spread her profound art and academic findings to show that those in their lonesome are valid and relevant.
KatieAnn Nguyen is an almost 15-year-old girl from the United States who wears dreams a size too big for her. The world is painful and she knows that, but that doesn't stop her from smiling. A little lost, a little hopeless, a little gone with the wind, she just happens to be another teenager surviving Life as best she can.
Tho Nguyen is a 10th-grader from Pleasanton, California. Her work has previously been published in the Bitter Fruit Review and Kalopsia Literary Magazine. She is also an editor for the Interstellar Review. Some things she enjoys are the scratch of a calligraphy nib, the icy sweetness of jasmine boba, and the first word in a once-blank Google Doc.
Ananya Nigam is a 13-year-old student living in New Delhi, India. She loves reading and writing fiction and poetry. In her spare time, she also enjoys baking and spending time with her puppy.
Gracie Nordgren is an 18-year-old student from Denver, Colorado. She enjoys daydreaming and pomegranates. Her work has previously been published by the South Broadway Ghost Society.
Samuel Nzebor is a fourth-year law student at the University of Benin. He is 21 years old, and resides in Nigiera; a poet whose works have appeared on Tuck Magazine, Mojave Heart Review, and Elsewhere. He envisions a world without pain.
Ollie O. is a young writer, who likes to read, draw and of course... write! They are currently writing their first novel. They live and write in Texas, USA.
Connor O'Brien is 17 years old and lives in Issaquah, Washington. He has no prior writing experience he believes worth noting, but he's always enjoyed writing.
Lyne Odhiambo is a 17-year-old living in Lexington, Kentucky. Her poetry is featured in Potted Purple magazine and The Make it Safe Project's forthcoming anthology. Lyne writes to remember words that are too good to be forgotten.
Ari and Dri Ogir are 18-year-old twin sisters from Trinidad. They have had a profound love for reading and writing ever since childhood. Occasionally they enjoy taking the words from their heads and painting it on a canvas. They are two small girls in a big world with dreams in their hearts and stories in their minds, and artists' souls.
Marisa Oishi is a 14-year-old writer from Washington state. She is a ballet dancer and loves reading and crossword puzzles. She frequently publishes her work on Write the World.
Nana Opare-Addo is a 13-year old girl from Bronx, NY. Since she was little, Nana has always been infatuated by a variety of poems & prose prompts. In school, she would constantly write different pieces and the joy she received from writing would help her combat different battles. She is currently a young writer at "WritetheWorld."
Ayesha Owais is a 16 year old writer and has been writing since as long as she can remember. She started writing on Instagram about last year and has improved a lot since then! She has her personal website (a blog) where she posts her articles and poetry, and she's also gotten published once or twice in a local magazine and along with that featured multiple times on different Instagram writing platforms.
Aadit Pahuja is a fifteen-year-old living in Delhi, India. His poetry has been accepted by not more than two literary magazines. His poetry is related to topics that drift away from the normal and explores topics like human trafficking, and religious beliefs. He spends most of his time thinking about writing, and when he starts writing, he ends up doing something else. Other hobbies include killing time on YouTube and eating.
Nikki P is a writer from the United States. She edits for a few magazines and has work published in The Hearth Magazine and Paper Crane Journal.
Leah Marie Park is a sophomore in high school from both Seoul and California (currently living in Seoul). Her work has been recognized with a Gold Medal by the Scholastics Art & Writing Awards. Aside from writing fiction and poetry, she likes to cook and bake.
Seungbihn Park is a 15-year-old Korean student who is currently attending Cresskill High School in the United States. She was born in Switzerland and lived in several countries, including the Philippines and the Dominican Republic. Her poems have been awarded by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and published by Trouvaille Review.
Olivia Paul (she/her) is a 13 year old poet, who lives in Tampa, Florida. She is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and much of her work centers around her journeys through love in the eyes of a young person. Writing has always been an escape for her, where she could turn her deepest secrets into stories and be proud of them. Later in life, Olivia wants to pursue writing as a career, and hopefully make it as a journalist.
Charlotte Picker is a 16-year-old high school student studying in Brisbane, Australia. While she does not do any writing professionally, she has a deep love for creative writing, especially short stories, creative non-fiction and poetry. She is currently working to develop a portfolio of work to take her passion into a more professional setting. Her poem was written in response to a deep anger she felt towards the issue of gun violence in America. As an American-Australian she often finds herself angered by the same issues that plague many American students, while also dealing with an innate sense of helplessness and inability to fight for change, partly due to her location. She hopes this poem can change that.
A rising junior from New Jersey, Alefiya Presswala writes because she sees and experiences so many different worlds and feelings, and she
needs to share that with other people. She wants to let people know that they are never alone in their struggles. Her work is soon to be recognized in Teen Author Boot Camp's 2020 Anthology and other online magazines. Besides writing, Alefiya takes an interest in astrology, painting, and social activism.
Chelsea Quayle is a 17 year old female from Australia. While she has been an avid reader since she was young, she started writing creatively at 13 years old. Her younger teenage years and her mental health were a struggle for here, so when she thought no one else would listen she turned to writing. Through this outlet, even when no one was reading, she felt heard. Through her writing she has grown so much as a person and even though she still struggles, it has assisted in developing her into a person with a matured awareness of herself and of others. Through her writing, she tries to channel her emotions and strip them back to a very unadulterated and refined state. She hopes to convey to others who haven't yet found their voice that she hears them and that they are not alone.
Rebekah Rahman is a 17-year-old currently residing in Washington. She's originally from South Carolina and has enjoyed the art of writing since she first learned to do so. She's currently a staff writer for the Issaquah High Times and usually focuses her journalistic pieces on issues regarding both race and equal representation. She has written screenplays for the IHS Film Club and supports local radio journalism in her community. For more of her creative writing pieces, find her works here: Black Coffee Writes.
Farzeen Rashid is 16 years old and she is from Canada. She started writing poetry when she was 15 years old, however, in quarantine, she’s been sharpening up her skills more than ever. She has written over 40 poems, topics ranging from her very personal experiences, to the flaws in our modern society.
Alexa Rasnick is a poet from New York. She is fourteen years old and a younger sister. She attends the ninth grade at Avenues The World School. When not at school, she volunteers at organizations like Days For Girls, City Harvest, and her school’s reducing waste club. She enjoys writing about issues like sexism, racism and climate change and current emotions.
Katie Rebhan is 16 years old and from McLean, Virginia. Writing is her favorite pastime, as she believes it is a way for her to share her ideas and passions with others, and in particular, she enjoys writing short stories, essays, and plays, some of which have won writing contests. In addition to writing, Katie plays volleyball and golf and serves as a referee for her county volleyball league. She is also an editor of her school’s yearbook and newspaper, and in her free time, she loves to read and bake.
Drishti Reddy is a fifteen-year old student from India who has previously been published in Robin Age Magazine and is an editor for Polyphony Lit.
Rachel Reid is a 16-year-old from Blairsville, Georgia and is an upcoming junior in high school. She has written and been published at teenink.com and has received an Editor's Choice Award for her poem "I've Walked Without Purpose."
Maya Renaud-Levine is sixteen years old, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She has a passion for podcasts, politics, singing and playing piano, and will never turn down a good crime novel. Her poetry is published or forthcoming in The WEIGHT Journal, Idle Ink, Eunoia Review, The Blue Marble Review and TRUANT LIT, and is a national winner of the American High School Poets Just Poetry!!! National Poetry Quarterly.
Juheon (Julie) Rhee is a 15-year-old student and is currently attending International School Manila. During her free time, she enjoys reading Agatha Christie’s mysteries and hanging out with her friends. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in K’in Literary Journal, Indolent Books, 580 Split, Lunch Ticket, Cleaver Magazine among others, and has been recognized by Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs.
Soheon Rhee is a twelve-year-old student who is currently attending the International School of Manila. During her free time, she likes hanging out with her friends and reading books such as “How to Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. Her poems have been published in the Heritage Review, and are inspired by multicultural and multilingual backgrounds.
Aatika Riaz is a 13-year-old writer from Islamabad, Pakistan. She frequently writes for Write the World.
Olivia Robertson is a 13-year-old aspiring journalist and author. She lives in Scarsdale, New York, and she has been in more than a few writing workshops over the last couple years. Her work has been published in one of the workshops' online magazines.
Avery Russell is a female black 16 year old who is an emerging writer living in Brooklyn, New York. She enjoys poetry, reading, and watching movies. She has recently become involved with organizing at her school to diversify the curriculum. She has been published in small magazines such as Oneul Zine and Casualzine.
Samantha Russell lives in Rhode Island. She is seventeen years old and entering her senior year of high school, and she is constantly writing personal pieces for herself, those of which include poetry, personal memoirs, vignettes, and creative nonfiction. Her poem "Immunity" was selected for inclusion in Notable Works' Call for Poetry.
Kirti Sachan is a 22-year-old open-mic poet and Mirakee writer from India. She often recites her poems during emcees for her college fest. She loves writing satires about both the digital way of life and the stresses of city life. Her writing is inspired by her travels, through deserts to mountains to plateaus to rainforests; for her, nature breeds creativity.
Clare Sacks is a sixteen-year-old junior from upstate New York. She has won awards for other poetry through Talent Unlimited.
Eileen Sadati is a 15-year-old poet from Southern California who uses her writing to answer her life's most pressing questions. She talks about her identity as a first-generation American, confusions, and the realizations she's made with age. Eileen enjoys writing, history, social studies, and hopes to continue learning about these topics in the future.
Nada Salem is a 16-year-old high school student in Ontario, Canada. She uses writing to process her experiences and the world around her. Besides publications in anthologies and local magazines, she has experience writing for various organizations as well as her school newspaper.
Sanchi is 16 years old and hails from Gharaunda, Haryana. She is a unicorn believer and selenophile, a procrastinator who finds solace in writing. She has published some of her work in anthologies and is beta reading for a client.
Somtochukwu Sandra is a 21-year-old student from Nigeria. She writes her emotions on paper as she finds it difficult to express herself orally.
K. Scopes is a 15-year-old aspiring writer in California who procrastinates way too much. She loves writing fictional prose—specifically fantasy and sci-fi. When she isn't writing, Scopes enjoys drinking coffee, going on walks, reading, and obsessing over fictional characters. You can find her on Instagram! @kscopeswrites
Julia Seebach is a 15-year-old from New Jersey. Her teachers have been encouraging her to share her work, but she's too shy to let people she knows read her work. She found Cathartic's page on Instagram and thought that a bunch of people she doesn't know might make her more comfortable to judgement!
Kimberly Seodarsan is 17 years old. She is from Ozone Park, New York. She has recently been noticed as a semi finalist in a separate poem contest, as well as working to compile a book of poems.
MahRukh Shah, aged 19, is a poetess & writer. She finds peace in poetry & prose ; her form of catharsis.
Afrah Shekh (19) hails from India, but has lived her whole life in the UAE. In her free time, she can be seen eating a tub of ice cream and watching documentaries on serial killers. She would describe her writing as a trainwreck, and what a wreck it truly is.
Caroline Shi is a 16-year-old from New York. She enjoys writing for fun and tries to do so as often as possible in her free time.
Tula Singer is a 16-year-old Cuban-American currently studying in Havana, Cuba at the Centro Educativo Español de La Habana. She has been published on reedsy.com and was a finalist in the Young Playwrights Competition in New York. She has also won four awards in secondary school for her writing. To her, inspiration comes from experience, which can be really inconvenient since she is still very young. Her stories are often a slice of her life and experiences—filled with jazz, friends, places, and chocolate. She writes because she cannot let it go.
Sameeksha Singh is a 16-year-old writer from India. She writes for Write the World.
Fathima Shafrina Sirajudeen is a 21-year-old professional poet from Sri Lanka. She has fallen in love with books for a long time, the magical words of fiction and descriptions of feelings which make her live. She has written for many magazines, and one of her books is soon to be published.
Annalise Sison is a fourteen year old from Virginia, US. She has taken no specific writing training, but has taken an Omnibus class and has experience in scriptwriting as a school morning announcement producer. Annalise is an actress and dancer, and enjoys creative writing, reading, and sketching in her free time.
Phoebe Skok is a high school senior from Issaquah, Washington who spends most of her time daydreaming of pastries and far-away lands. A former blogging intern for CIEE during her foreign exchange in 2019, as well as a national collegiate Model United Nations position paper award winner in spring 2020 and author of an in-progress cookbook, she has always relied on writing to express herself. When she's not drafting personal essays or song lyrics, Phoebe enjoys testing new recipes and delivering them to her friends.
Isabel Su is a junior at The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. She edits for her school's literary magazine, ink., as well as for her school newspaper. When she isn't writing, she enjoys dancing, making art, and listening to podcasts.
Millie Su is a 16-year-old from Issaquah, Washington. Although she has no "official" writing experience, she holds a deep passion for the written language and never regrets her time spent working on pieces. Writing has always been a source of comfort to her, allowing a momentary escape from this world. She is a strong believer in learning to love oneself through acceptance.
Shi Yang Su is an 16-year-old high school student from China. She is studying creative writing in school; she really enjoys reading poems and would like to share her peoms with the world. Currently, Su focuses more on writing peoms about culture conflict and religion belief.
Jaiden Thompson is a 15-year-old writer from Washington state, looking for their soul through writing verse and prose on occasion. As a raging member of the LGBT community, their poems more than often venture into queer themes and concepts. Other motifs within their writing include religion/mythology, racism, and the struggles of adolescence. Their writing will later be published through the Young Writer's Initiative this July.
Sanya Tinaikar is a 15-year-old emerging writer and student from Pennsylvania. She thoroughly enjoys reading and spends her spare moments with a book in hand. She is honored to have her work featured in Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine.
Cindy Tran is a sixteen-year-old writer from Boston, Massachusetts. She is a staff writer for Unpublished Magazine and Reclamation Magazine, and has published her work in a variety of other publications, including Overachiever Magazine, Ogma Magazine, and Boston Teens In Print. When she's not writing, Cindy is playing Animal Crossing into the ungodly hours of the night, reading until dawn, and breaking the strings of her violin. She hopes to be an author in the future.
Trinh Tran is sixteen years old. She attends Milpitas High School in Milpitas, California. She has been passionate about creative writing from a young age and enjoys experimenting with different types of writing.
Jessica Tsang is a 16-year-old based in Hong Kong. At the age of five, she found that drawing stories was better than simply drawing, then found that writing stories was better than drawing them. When she is not writing or contemplating the meaning of life, you can find her studying, playing music, or drowning herself in copious amounts of green tea.
Lauwrensia Tuder is a 16-year-old from London, United Kingdom. She has some writing experience through participation in her school's newspaper club.
Anoushka Turner is 14 years old. She is from a town in South-East England and has only ever previously written for schoolwork or for fun. She is previously unpublished. Usually she writes short stories or creative descriptions.
Jhermayne Ubalde is a 16-year-old student from Australia. She runs a writing blog on Write the World and can consistently be found dashing for a pen the moment she gets a good idea for her next poem. She is a full-time science nerd and dabbles (often painfully) in short story.
Ronnie Volman is a 15 year old writer from California. She serves as a staff writer and associate editor for The Incandescent Review, and has previously participated in Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth’s writing programs. In her free time, she loves to read, practice piano and enjoy fresh air at the beach.
Julia Vu is a 16-year old student from the Bay Area. Having struggled with mental illness, Julia is a passionate mental health advocate and founded an international advocacy organization called Operation Dopamine in 2020. She documents her cycles with decline, relapse, and recovery through her poetry. Julia hopes to empower others and embrace the beauty of her own mental illness by sharing the letters she never intended to send. Julia has a fascination for the medical sciences and is currently conducting individual research on dacarbazine (DTIC) chemotherapy drug resistance in melanoma.
Sunny Vuong is a 15-year-old Asian-American poet who strings her heart together between stanzas of poems and chapters of prose. She’s often writing about her experiences as a young girl of color, the trials of being a member of several minority groups, or otherwise age typical teenager bouts of dreams and fantasies. Some things she adores include the Oxford comma, irony, and missed opportunities.
Felicity Wang is a 12-year-old avid reader and writer from Seattle, Washington.
Jessica Wang is a 16-year-old from Long Island with a passion for writing. She is the editor of the teen literary magazine called icelollyreview.com and can be found daydreaming and blending acai bowls.
Margaret Wang is a 14-year-old student from Arizona. If it's not 100 degrees out, she can often be seen contemplating the universe and engaging in similarly productive activities from her backyard. Her work can be found on Prose.
Olivia Wang, age 17, is from Issaquah, Washington and will be studying at the University of Washington in the fall. She is an avid musician who enjoys performing around the community and volunteering at local events. Although Olivia has not had any formal training in writing, she enjoys writing about mental illnesses as well as LGBTQ+ awareness and acceptance.
Sage Wang is a 13-year-old from Sugar Land, Texas. Since she was 6, she's loved writing her own poems and short stories, which are such a personal form of self-expression to her. In her free time, she enjoys playing the cello and trying to beat her brother at ping-pong.
Channeling her regrets into poetry, Yun-Fei Wang, 16, is your average sad high school student from the country of Taiwan. To her, words are colorless sunsets and the first light of dawn. She's not so sure what it means either, but she intends to find out with the rest of her life. Look for her in the coldest midnights, or @immortalrainpoetry on Instagram.
Pravartika Wankhede is a 16-year-old writer from Prayagraj, India. She has written previously for local newspapers, online platforms such as Write the World and Prose. As an International Fellow of Write the World's Civics in Action programme with the National Children's Campaign and Facing History and Ourselves, she also focuses on journalistic, socio-political writing.
Emily Way is a 15-year-old writer. She comes from a small town in Ontario, Canada, and her writing experience is limited to work at school as well as occasional short story or poetry writing for personal entertainment.
Mehr Walia is a twenty-year-old from Punjab, India. She is currently pursuing dentistry. Her friends worry how fazed she looks while reading the news; she worries about them being unfazed in return. You will find her making spaghetti & conversations at the most ungodly hours.
A. Wong is a 14-year-old student poet located in the West Coast of the United States. She enjoys telling stories through poetry, as she is too lazy to write novels. You can find her work on Write the World and Prose.
Kailey Wong is a 16-year-old student from the San Francisco Bay Area. She likes to do creative writing occasionally and loves to read. During her free time, she can be found playing piano, listening to Broadway, or watching sci-fi shows.
Keon Wong is a 17-year-old from Hong Kong. He is currently taking his A Levels and has a knack for all things photography and writing. He also has an obsession with good food.
Asher Wood is a 16-year-old writer who is based in Oxfordshire, England. Writing has taken over her spare time, though it’s currently just a hobby. She is an eccentric for houseplants - currently at 25 - and has successfully covered her bedroom in leaves. She's a huge advocate for bringing exposure to mental health and hopes to show that through her writing.
Jacqueline Wu is a 16-year-old writer from Long Island, New York. She is a writer and editor for her acclaimed school magazine, Cinnabar. She has also won several writing competitions and awards, such as the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Jacqueline enjoys painting, drawing, writing, and playing the viola, and she hopes to continue to inspire and empower through her words.
Olivia Yang is a rising junior from Charlotte, North Carolina. She is a 2020 American Voices Nominee for the Northeastern region and has been nationally recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing awards. Her work has also been recognized by Nimrod International, The Courant, the Carl Sandburg Poetry Contest, and more. She is an editor for The Courant, Galliard International and is on the board of her school’s Asian Society and Writer’s Alliance. In her free time, she likes to scout out discreet boba shops and watch summer sunsets.
Erin Ye is a 16-year-old writer from Long Island. An editor for Interstellar Literary Review, her work is also forthcoming in Gossamer Lit. Erin draws inspiration from her life experiences, Greek mythology, and the sky. She loves smoothies and being outside. You can find more of her work at www.erinwritesessays.weebly.com.
Peggy Yin is an 18-year old from Port Jefferson, New York. She is the editor-in-chief of her school’s literary magazine and the founder and editor-in-chief of The Current (pjcurrent.com), an independent newsmedia platform for student voices. Her writing has been recognized by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. An aspiring cognitive neuroscientist, she also loves science and is an award-winning flutist and vocalist.
Haemin Yun is an eighth grader currently studying at International School Manila. She lives in the Philippines but is Korean. She enjoys writing which takes her imagination and thinking to another world. Her work was previously published in The Heritage Review.
Kailani Zhang is a 15-year-old living in Illinois, in the U.S. She loves writing in any shape or form, and particularly poetry as a personal interest which settled in over this summer. On a poetry grind, she’s posted many poems on her account on a writing platform, Write the World, and also earned a position as the assistant poetry editor on a literary magazine, the Things Unsaid. Some hobbies she has other than writing includes practicing Pixar themes on her piano, baking with her family and friends, watching classical movies like Ratatouille, and making very bad puns.
Sophia Zhang is a 15-year-old residing in Chicago, Illinois. She has been stringing words together in her head since her inception and is very happy to channel them into readable packets of intrigue for other people to read. Besides writing, Sophia spends her time playing piano, volleyball, or her favorite song on repeat.
Shira Zur is a rising senior in high school and lives in Seattle, Washington. She has loved to read and write ever since she can remember and hopes to pursue doing what she loves in the future. Her work has been published in The WEIGHT Journal and Truant Lit.