“In the Land of Heroes” Wins First Place!

I am so honored to share that my story “In the Land of Heroes” won first place in the Ink of Ages Fiction Prize contest! 

The Ink of Ages Fiction Prize is an international fiction contest run by the World History Encyclopedia and sponsored by Oxford University Press. Every year they open for historical and mythological stories, and of course I had to enter! 

“In the Land of Heroes” is a story inspired by the heroism of the nurses and war dogs in World War I, and takes place on the Greek island of Lemnos.

This story is very special to me. I’ve had a special interest in the nurses of WWI for years, and several incomplete novel drafts have been devoted to them. When I found out about this opportunity I knew I had to revisit some of my older story ideas, and I spent a good deal of time at the library digging up reference books and documentaries about the Gallipoli campaign and the ANZAC nurses who served during it. 

Writing the actual story felt like the best labor of love. I wrote several drafts by hand in my trusty A5 Stalogy notebook, tweaking the plot (and in several cases, burning the plot to the ground entirely and shaping something completely different from the ashes) until I was happy with what I’d written. After that, I began drafting on my laptop, where the plot went through several more subtle transformations. I submitted it on 7/31/25 and tried not to agonize over the results for the next six months. 

I was in complete shock when I received the email that my story had won. I’m still a little in shock, but mostly I’m so honored to be considered among so many other fantastic authors, and so delighted that it was this particular story that I entered. 

You can find “In the Land of Heroes” at the link below. I hope you love it.

Find it here: “In the Land of Heroes”