Starre Julia Vartan

I’m excited to announce that I won 2nd Place in the annual American Literary Review’s writing contest for my creative Nonfiction work entitled “Icewalkers,” which is about growing up a tomgirl of sorts in the hamlet of Garrison.

This is what the contest’s judge, Alice Dark, had to say about the piece (which you can read here):

A young girl literally walks on thin ice to prove herself to the local ice skater boys. The premise is a familiar rite of passage for young girls, but this author focuses on descriptions of ice, cold, and winter in a way that gives them symbolic weight and resonance. I liked how this author was able to make complex her 11-year-old self, her decisions both considered and impulsive. The ice is the center here, though; it changes color, moans, tinkles, cracks; it is alive.

I’m very pleased and honored!