2026 Submissions
Kiss of Finality
When writing this piece, my intention was to create a comforting poem for those who have lost someone close to them.
Basketball Pandemic (Fox Elementary)
I wrote "Basketball Pandemic" while reflecting on my love for basketball and its lasting effect on my identity.
A Tabled Passion
I grew up an avid crafter and writer, and my parents have always supported art as an outlet for self expression.
Notes Out of Body
This work was written in response to the Museum of Modern Art exhibit of "The Visitors."
first light
"first light" is a poem where I didn't set out with a specific theme or topic in mind, but kind of let it reveal itself as I was writing line by line.
Words of Remembrance
Words of Remembrance is inspired by recent life events of my two grandfathers’ passing.
By Xia, For the World
By Xia, For the World, is an autobiography in the making, this is special because the was my very first piece I wrote about this book.
Beneath New Skies
My poem Beneath New Skies explores the quiet, unseen hopes carried by immigrants, specifically my parents.
A Thousand Cranes Between Us: A Tribute to Sadako Sasaki
This poem is deeply personal to me because as a Japanese-American, although I grew up far from Hiroshima, her cranes have always symbolized a part of my identity, and I wanted to honor not only the tragedy she endured, but the quiet strength she embodied as she folded her thousand paper cranes.
Read me
As a person who lives on today's world and has been made aware of events, ideas, just someone in general who has more accessibility to things thanks to the internet. I wrote this because all this accessibility has made me self aware and has deepened my logic to levels I sometimes wish didn't exist.
Poetry of Blues [Blue jeans, Monday morning soliloquy]
This is a collection of poems that explore American identity and mental illness, coming together to depict the tumultuous nature of the human experience.
THE ECHO OF A DREAM
A girl at a K-pop concert is struck by a light stick and tumbles into another life-Minji's life-where she speaks perfect Korean, trains relentlessly, and rises as an idol while her real memories fade.
What you choose to see
I wrote this poem about my cultural dual identity between my Korean and American side, and how they never seemed to fit together--- like stepping fully into one meant dimming the other.
Nakaiwou Ya’ana: The Making of an Inner Strength
This artwork reflects the quiet strength that shaped me as a Wayuu.