Whirling Prize

“Nathan Newman’s novel, How to Leave the House, follows a day in the life of Natwest who is in pursuit of a wayward package. During his search, a colorful cast of characters are introduced throughout Natwest’s hometown. Each and every character contributes to Natwest’s overall discovery by the end of the novel and helps Newman express powerful ideas about the human condition and self-discovery. The way Newman handles these ideas is also done in a manner that is respectful and meaningful, given the mature content presented, and will get readers emotionally attached to the characters. A balance of laughter and fun, along with addressing real-life issues, is beautifully archived. By the end of the novel, which ends in a unique way where two endings are presented in two very different ways, readers will be left rooting for all the characters. Newman’s mastery of telling these interwoven stories demonstrates his passion and fine skill in storytelling and for exceptional writing. When readers reach the last pages, they won’t want to say goodbye.”

– Anastasia Wolfe (’26)

“Slaughterhouse for Old Wives Tales by Hannah V Warren is a collection of poems that are as dark and eerie as they are intriguing and thought provoking. The poems feel closer to incantations at times, turning the book into something of a grimoire. A deep, mourning, humorous piece of work that draws readers in with no false promises of safety or coddling. Reading Slaughterhouse for Old Wives Tales is like walking through a cave just a few inches too short to stand up straight in, covered in sharp rocks and steep crevices in the dark, but somehow each step is into soft sand, sinking the reader just low enough to walk comfortably and painlessly through the treacherous terrain. One aspect that stands out is Warren’s original use of language. She creates her own lexicon for readers and invites readers to enjoy the strange and new writing style. The themes feel gothic, somber, and unsettling, and the writing is graphic at points, but never feels gratuitous or unearned. The content that may be upsetting for more sensitive readers is necessary, like a feint making a boxer flinch away and unwillingly open themselves up to a finishing blow. The content often takes readers by surprise, leaving them vulnerable to ideas that they otherwise would have had their guard up against, and taking up space in their mind for years to come. It isn’t often that a piece of writing so prone to ruffling feathers is done well enough to get past that, but Warren’s Slaughterhouse for Old Wives Tales achieves this.”

– Chandler Ferrer

“Boopable!, written by Mary Ann Redmond and illustrated by Kathy Moore Wilson, is an adorable children’s picture book with a heartwarming message, which puts all readers in a better mood, no matter the age. Each page features a new beautiful drawing of cute and cuddly animals with witty prompts, asking how readers would interact with them. With a lovely message at the end, letting young ones know that they are just as lovely and special as all of the animals they’ve come to appreciate through the pages. It is a book that belongs on shelves of all parents with young children as well as primary school bookshelves. An instant classic children’s picture book.”

– Chandler Ferrer

Finalist (Poetry)
In Inheritance of Drowning
by Dorsía Smith Silva

“Poet Dorsía Smith Silva’s first collection, In Inheritance of Drowning, takes readers on a journey of prepping for storm as a phenomenology of the island culture and continues that same journey through the eyes of a youngster on the east coast of the United States with Puerto Rican relatives. In each case, personal care – having enough food and water – is tied to nourishing the body and keeping it clean. The knowledge gained from a person in each place is different, however. At home on the island, comfort and self-care equal pride but in a continental U.S. location, it brings surprise and derision. Smith’s poetry is not diatribe or screed. It is the product of considered thought and observance of lived experience.”

  – Steve Polston

Finalist (Short Story)
The Dancing Bears: Queer Fables for the End Times
by Rob Costello

“The Dancing Bears: Queer Fables for the End Times by Rob Costello has all the ironic side-eye that gay men are known for with enough dark tones around the sclera to make the experiences believable or possible for any adult who has ever been a child. The 11 stories – three are new – are like your fever dreams when you were a young adolescent being chased thrice; once by your libido, second by daily social trauma, and third by fierce beasts on the nightly patrol of your imagination. Teens in school are always watching for subtle differences in power dynamics and they see changes in everybody: Costello notes teachers whose light drain from their eyes as winter sets in; boy-heroes and possibly future lovers who always win and whose egos we maintain with praise and admiration, especially when they falter; and mothers who suffer abuse and do not protect us, a perfidy so great and humiliating it can’t be admitted. Implied in these stories is constant economic upheaval and cultural change that captures the attention of adults who fail to see families dealing with generational trauma. This collection is worth reading because it reflects the experiences of many American young people.” 

– Steve Polson

Finalist (Poetry)
Playing Time in Tongues
by Vita Lerman

Playing Time in Tongues by Vita Lerman is a riveting collection of prose poems spanning the years of a woman’s life, told through the nonlinear perspective of an omnipotent force. Lerman reaches out and grabs readers immediately, connecting on deep emotional levels. Playing Time in Tongues feels completely original and realistically optimistic. The fondness that is held for the world, for others, for life, and even for death, is endearing and thought provoking. The work touches on everything good and painful and worth suffering for in life, as well as where that suffering can sometimes take us in beautiful and careful exposition and prose. The underlying throughline of Playing Time in Tongues is death. How it craves and yearns for us, and how we oddly and sometimes beautifully feel the same at different points in our journeys. The poems suggest Death does not want us to punish us or hurt us, but it loves and can’t wait to meet us. This gentle and careful depiction of death is new and more tasteful than the vindictive and malevolent force that is seen in so many other pieces of media, and it is a welcome change: not fearing, nor wishing for death, but understanding it and greeting it as an old friend coming back for what they never forgot. This is a beautiful and heart wrenching sentiment that will stay with me for as long as I’m reading, and it will stay with anyone else lucky enough to discover this book.”

– Chandler Ferrer

Finalist (Novel in Verse)
An Art, A Craft, A Mystery
by Laura Secord

“Laura Second’s novel-in-verse, An Art, A Craft, A Mystery, presents an incredibly enriching tale, which follows Lydea Gilbert and Katherine Harrison’s experiences during the witch trials. These poems, which bring to life the true-life events of the author’s ancestry, are beautifully and expertly written. Secord’s bold choice to narrate this novel through poems make the reading experience engaging, fun, and immersive. Her use of figurative language was aesthetically pleasing and read like they were written in the time period the characters lived in. It added to the immersion of the story—it will have readers on the edge of their seats. Readers will become invested in them and won’t want to say goodbye. In An Art, A Craft, A Mystery, Laura Seconds’s talent, use of verse, and personal connections, achieve the creation of a novel that is heartfelt and enjoyable. History is revisited and human nature is reflected upon in a powerful way that is immersive and goes well beyond its end.”

– Anastasia Wolfe