We are excited to announce the winners of the 2022 Fresh Ink Fiction Contest! This year’s theme was “What are you waiting for?”, and we were impressed by the creative submissions we received from students across Texas. We are honored so many talented young writers shared their stories with us, and we are thrilled to share the winning story in each grade level with you here.

Congratulations to the 2022 winners:

6th Grade

El C. – The Man in the Closet

7th Grade

Jill S. – What Are You Waiting For?

8th Grade

Savanna R. – The Day I Stopped Believing in Love

9th Grade

Audrey H. – Patchwork Homes

10th Grade

Astrid G. – All the Pieces Left Behind

11th Grade

Celia A. – The Lightest Bullet

12th Grade

Danielle B. – The Ring

All Fresh Ink Fiction Contest participants were invited to an exclusive Q&A session and workshop with Austin Bat Cave, where students joined writers, editors, and publishing experts to celebrate their work, talk about the writing life, and discuss next steps for sharing their work.

The Fresh Ink Contest winner for each grade level will be awarded a Book Nerd gift pack and great new reads from Random House. They will each also receive a $20 BookPeople gift card. The Fresh Ink Fiction Contest is sponsored by AT&T and Random House Children’s Books.

Thank you to everyone who entered the Fresh Ink Fiction Contest. You inspire us!

Thank you to partner Austin Bat Cave for providing a fabulous workshop and to Random House Children’s Books and BookPeople for providing our contest prizes!