Results: The Nasiona Writing Prompts Tournament #1

Barrak Alzaid is an artist and writer. His current project, Fabulous at Five, relates his queer coming of age in Kuwait. It is a story of family fracture, reconciliation, and finding true love in the most unexpected of places: home. In 2018 he was a fellow at the Lambda Literary Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices, His memoir and nonfiction work features in Nailed Magazine, Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, The Ordinary Chaos of Being Human: Tales From Many Muslim Worlds, and an anthology of Muslim-American writings edited by Kazim Ali.

Kara Knickerbocker is the author of the chapbooks The Shedding Before the Swell (dancing girl press 2018) and Next to Everything that is Breakable (Finishing Line Press 2017). Her poetry and essays have appeared in: Poet Lore, Construction, Portland Review, and the anthologies Pennsylvania’s Best Emerging Poets, Crack the Spine, and more. She currently lives in Pittsburgh where she writes with the Madwomen in the Attic at Carlow University, and co-curates the MadFridays Reading Series. Find her online at www.karaknickerbocker.com.

Chasita (they/them) is a beautifully brown writer who thought a Literature degree from UC Berkeley would jump start their career. They use writing as a way to find peace in a hectic world that demands their labor when all they really want is to be. They are currently working on poetry, stories, and screenplays that explore individuality and community through love, pain, and laughter. Chasita is from San Diego and currently lives with their sister who is also an unemployed graduate from Berkeley.

Bailey Henderson is a post-graduate creative writer, seasoned ‘Clue’ detective, alright ‘Mario-Kart’ racer, and hopeful ‘Great Gatsby’ party attendee. She enjoys thunderstorms on the beach and spending time getting lost in unrealistic daydreams – those are the best to indulge in some days.

My name is Maria-Luisa Ornelas-June. I was born and raised in Laredo, TX and graduated Plan II from the University of Texas at Austin. After getting a law degree at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, I accompanied my husband to overseas postings where I raised my three children in the Netherlands and Singapore. After our last posting in India, I now reside in Houston, TX.

What I enjoyed most about this prompt was re-connecting with the fact that everything is micro, even the mezzo and the macro. i care about the people next to me, in addition to those who are not. this is the current in my writing. i lead with empathy. this is the value in my writing. i am always learning. this is beauty of my writing.

My name is Sara Brown. I just started the MFA program at University of Nevada Las Vegas this fall with a Graduate Assistantship. I have had my poetry and creative nonfiction recently published in Permafrost, Southwest Review, Swimming with Elephants, West Trade Review, and William and Mary Review. I have also recently been nominated for a Pushcart Award.

Dabbling creative writer, aspiring social entrepreneur, disabled veteran, and exotic performer.