Third prize

 The third place winner for 2025 Julia Stewart Memorial Short Story contest is Bilge Bayhan of Fredericton.

You can read the story here: SALT

Bilge Bayhan is a high school student born in İstanbul who got shoved into writing back in grade six by her language arts teacher—and she just… never stopped. Most of her stories end up in the graveyard she calls Google Docs, but sometimes they make it out alive. She writes about everything from motorsport races to strange little short stories, usually at 2 a.m., when she should be sleeping. When she’s not writing, you’ll probably find her watching F1, painting something half-finished, or buried in a book.

Honorable mention

Honorable mention in the 2025 Julia Stewart Memorial Short Story Prize went to Jane Thomson of Fredericton for her story One Thing That Is the Same. The story is not published on the website, but will be published in the future contest anthology.

Jane Thomson lives in Fredericton with her wonderful family where she teaches law and enjoys listening to podcasts that recap Bravo television programs. She has enjoyed creative writing ever since she was young, but life and career obligations got in the way for a long time. Thanks to the Julia Stewart Memorial Short Story Contest, she has found her way back to it. She plans on never leaving again.

Runner Up Stories

We were so impressed with the quality of work that was submitted this year, making it very hard for the judges to narrow it down and select the winners.

Here are some of the stories that were submitted in 2025:

Hey, I Think My Car Is on Fire! by Jon Fidler

His Name Was Curtis by Leslie Sloat

Night Terrors by Amber Swan

Old Man by Joey Moreau

Raspberry Pie by Sophia Lindfield 

The Fox On the Nighttime Highway

The Long Walk by C. Paul M. O'Connell

The Parliament of Owls by M. D. H. 

 

Entry fees donated

 

Part of the legacy of this project is to donate the entry fees to causes that were close to Julia’s heart. The recipient of this year's contest is MS Canada. Ambassador Brittany Fraser was on hand to accept a cheque for $1560 on behalf of the organization. This donation is comprised of $560 in entry fees and an additional $1000 from the sponsor, Cedar Valley Investments.

Presentation of Prizes

 We had a full house yesterday afternoon at Gallery 78. It was a fun, exciting, and emotional event. Thank you so much to everyone who attended.

The winners are:

First prize $2500 ~ Ryan Marshall of Fredericton

Second Prize $1000 ~ Stacy deVries of Nova Scotia

Third Prize $500 ~ Bilge Bayhan of Fredericton

Honorable Mention $200 ~ Jane Thomson of Fredericton

Read the top stories here:

The French Play by Ryan Marshall

The Girl Who Lit the World by Stacy deVries

Salt by Bilge Bayhan

Some photo highlights from the Awards event on October 18, 2025

 

We are announcing the winners tomorrow!

We look forward to seeing all of you who have RSVP'd and can't wait to announce the winners of the first ever Julia Stewart Memorial Short Story Contest.

If you can't make it in person, the event will be live streamed from 4:00 to 6:00 pm Atlantic time on my personal Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/jeatherhane.reads/

After the event, the live streamed video will be shared to the contest Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JuliaStewartMemorialContest/