Whispering Woods Challenge Winners
An inside look into the Vocal Curation Team's favorite stories from the Whispering Woods Challenge
Congratulations to Morgan Christy Rickards for their winning Whispering Woods story, Guardian at the Gate. Morgan has been a Vocal creator since February 2021, and this is their first time placing in Challenge — well done, starting with a win! Guardian at the Gate draws evocatively from Welsh tales of the Cantre'r Gwaelod, a lost sunken kingdom between the forest and the sea. Heledd’s dangerous adventure pulls her towards the water but her spirit is anchored in the woods: Morgan’s writing is atmospheric and exciting.
In second place is Scott C Lillard’s Heart and Bone — and Scott is another first time winner, so extra cheers for that. Zazh is turning thirteen, and her love for her friend Minn is calling her as the forest calls her… Lillard creates a place of active listening in the fairy-haunted woods, and Zazh finds strength in herself because of the forest’s supporting power.
Well done too to our runners-up. D. J. Reddall conjures a mystic rite in We Remember; Liam Storm (another first timer in challenge placement!) treads the boundary between what’s mythic and what’s read in The Legend of Ardanor; in Keb Rogers’ Good Memories, Henry’s conversation with a tree returns him to the presence of his late, beloved wife. All of these tales spoke to the renewing power and magic of the natural world; the perfect way to launch into spring.
You can check out the full list of winners HERE and learn about our current challenges below:
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Comments (21)
Congratulations to all the winners!
Congratulations
Congratulations to the winners🎊
Congratulations to all the winners!
Congratulations to the winners
Congratulations!🎉🎉🎉
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Congrats all you punks! 😄👏
Well done everyone
Congratulations everyone and thank you I am thrilled to have placed
Congratulations to all the winners and placers from me and all in the Vocal Social Society
Thank you guys so much! Congratulations to everyone who won and amazing job to everyone who entered, I loved this challenge and reading everyone’s creative contributions!
Congrats to all. 🍾
Congratulations to Morgan Christy Rickards for first place Scott C Lillard for second place and to all the exceptional runners-up: Angela Hepworth Caroline Jane Catsidhe Celia in Underland D. J. Reddall Keb Roger Kelli Sheckler-Amsden L.C. Schäfer Liam Storm Michael J. Wine 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳 You wrote indelible stories that rose above the 350+ other fictions to capture the hearts of the Vocal curators. I could not be happier for you. Congratulations! 🤩😍🤩😍🤩 To all of us who did not win, congratulations as well! We wrote FANTASTIC entries. I'm every bit as delighted for each of us for simply (and especially) having dared to write pieces that amaze and delight and create fantastical journeys I thoroughly enjoyed. Now, let's all go hug a tree and thank them for being our lungs, and then go write something that knocks our socks off. Cheers!!!
Great stories of sentient forests! Congratulations to all who entered and the winners!
Congratulations, everyone! Very much looking forward to reading all of these wonderful woodsy tales 🙂
Fantastic well done!
Congrats to the winners and runner ups!
Whispering woohoo!!!💕❤️❤️
Congratulations to all the winners!!
So amazing!! Thank you so much, wasn't expecting this at all! Congrats to Morgan and Scott for first and second, and all the other runners up! A great challenge to spark a lot of interesting stories!