The literary efforts of four local students were selected as the winners of the 2026 Poul Anderson Creative Writing Contest, named in honor of the late Poul Anderson, one of the great mid-20th century science fiction and fantasy authors and an Orinda resident.
This year’s winners were Ayan Mohapatra for the short story “Tomato Juice”; Vinny Yu for the short story “The Bearer of Dreams”; Tildyn Andrews for the short story “Medic 12; Moscow, Vermont”; and Serena Scheiner for the poem “Grief in California.” All four also received $500 from the sponsor of the event, the Friends of the Orinda Library.
There were also four Honorable Mentions: Carol Zhang for the poem “Poem#18 – My Kindle”; Jay Sandhu for the science fiction “Alien Discovery in New Mexico”; Nina Segall for the essay “From Bud to Bloom”; and Jamie Goldstein for the short story “The Gas Station.”
Entry categories for the annual contest – which encourages students to continue their interest in writing and to pursue careers as authors and journalists – are Science Fiction/Fantasy, Essay/Memoir/Biography, Poetry and Short Story.
Entries were judged by a panel of local judges, including Susan Williams, librarian at Miramonte High School; Anne Lowell, librarian at Glorietta School; Sora O’Doherty, reporter for the Lamorinda Weekly; and Sally Hogarty, former editor and current writer for The Orinda News.
The winning entries are posted on the Friends’ website and inside the Orinda Library.
For more information, visit friendsoftheorindalibrary.org/home/writing-contest/.
Contributing Writer Fran Strykowski can be reached at franstrykowski@gmail.com.
