USU Creative Writing and Art Contest Announces 2026 Winners

Utah State University’s Creative Writing and Art Contest has named the winners in its 33rd annual competition, recognizing the best creative work by students.

Open to all USU undergraduate students from all departments and disciplines, the contest awards top writers of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction, as well as visual artists in drawing, painting and photography. Each category received the blind review of expert judges drawn from the USU and Cache Valley arts communities.

On her winning fiction piece, “The Erosion of Salt,” Ashley Wilson says: “This piece may have speculative elements, but the heart of the story brings awareness to real-world issues such as hopelessness in the face of ecological crisis. I believe stories can make a real difference, but to do so, they cannot shy away from difficult themes.”

Chloe Scheve’s essay, “Mudfoot,” was chosen as the nonfiction winner.

“This essay is one I always knew I needed to write,” Scheve said, “but I didn’t quite know when to allow myself to re-encounter this traumatic moment, to urge myself to remember the details of an embodied fear. I brought this essay to the National Conference of Undergraduate Research in April of 2025 and placed it in conversation with two other writers — Vanessa Veselka and Aube Rey Lescure — who have also written about gendered violence. I believe we need more stories about the body, about fear, about women, about violence and about continuing to live (and write) despite it all.”

Brook Haight was named poetry winner for selected poems: “bled through,” “food at home,” and “eating proper.”

“Life asks us to be composed, but there's only so much we can control, even of our own bodies,” Haight said. “We can run from others, but shame always finds us in these moments, peering between the cracks of our hiding places. These poems are interested in the tension between shame and our bodies, as something both internal and external."

On her winning art piece, Brianna Pickering said: “‘God is Dead’ is an exploration of Southern Gothic; that is to say, this piece is an exploration of the dead, macabre and grotesque as elements in which to contextualize the American South. I intended to showcase a cycle of destruction and rebirth, utilizing western biblical mythos as an investigative vehicle of religious scrupulosity.”

This is the 11th year the contest has partnered with USU’s international undergraduate literary journal, Sink Hollow. The winning entries will be published next month in a special contest issue, giving this work an international audience.

The winners will also share their work locally with a reading at Helicon West.

“We’re incredibly proud of our students and the fine work coming out of USU,” says contest director Ashley Wells, “and the Helicon West event is a truly special night. Hearing winning students read alongside community members and seeing their art displayed creates a powerful sense of community and joy.”

The Helicon West reading of the contest winning work will be at 7 p.m. April 23 at the Logan Library. As always, Helicon is free, uncensored, open to the public and will include an open-mic session.

2026 USU Creative Writing and Art Contest Winners

ART

First: Brianna Pickering, “God is Dead.”

Second: Kaisha Mills, “Looking Down.”

Third: Sarah Monsen, “Cornered Animal.”

Honorable Mention: Indigo Aves, “Lucky.”

Honorable Mention: Kaisha Mills, “Underneath the Bark,” “Through the Dark,” and “A Day’s Worth.”

Honorable Mention: Brianna Pickering, “Little Wonders,” “Camouflage?” “Requiem,” and “Windward.”

Honorable Mention: Sarah Monsen, “The Bush King.”

Honorable Mention: Laurel Bjornstedt, “The Beauty of Three.”

Honorable Mention: Angelina Nading, “Utah Boreal Toad” and “Praying Mantis.”

Honorable Mention: Matthew Gage, “Softer from Here.”

Honorable Mention: Kale Lambert, “Metamorphosis."

Honorable Mention: Cody Powell, “Fishy.”

FICTION

First: Ashley Wilson, “The Erosion of Salt.”

Second: Gracie Fife, “Tooth Ache.”

Third: Mia Nielsen, “Running.”

NONFICTION

First: Chloe Scheve, “Mudfoot.”

Second: Ellie Carlson, "It Seems to Me Like an Act of Worship: A Contemplative Essay on Generative-AI."

Third: Ava Rees, “Roots.”

POETRY

First: Brook Haight, “bled through,” “food at home,” and “eating proper.”

Second: Ella Stott, “eat” and “consummation.”

Third: Abby Huber, “Miscarriage.”