Welcome to the Bluefire blog! This blog publishes the creative writing of students from grades 5-12. Select blog entries are chosen for publication in our journal, Bluefire. If you are a young author interested in having your work published, please click the link below for the submission guidelines and to enter a piece. Comments must be approved, but please feel free to provide your thoughts on what you read here. Copies of the Bluefire journal are available for a contribution to the Foundation. Please visit our 
And the winners are…!
23 authors to be published in Bluefire 2018.
The results are in! After three rounds of judging, the work of twenty-three young authors
have been chosen to appear in the 2018 edition of Bluefire, the literary journal of our
foundation. Thank you to the more than 477 students who participated in this year’s contest.
$1000 Scholarship Winners
Angela Ng, 12th Grade, from New York, NY, for the story What It’s Like A World Away.
Ashley Xu, 7th Grade, from Andover, MA, for the story Red.
$100 Prize Grade Winners
Beatrice Stewart, 11th Grade, from San Mateo, CA, for the story The Undying Summer.
Sarah Feng, 10th Grade, from Los Altos Hills, CA, for the story The Visitors.
Alayisa Dennis, 9th Grade, from Vacherie, LA, for the story Empathy in the Deadlands.
Maya Avida, 8th Grade, from Hillsborough, CA, for the story Never Say Forever.
Lachlan Chu, 6th Grade, from Hillsborough, CA, for the story Permission.
Honorable Mention
Kumari Pacheco, 12th Grade, from St. Louis, MO, for Chelsea.
Anisha Johnson, 12th Grade, from Carlsbad, CA, for The Fog.
Annika Eske, 11th Grade, from Hackensack, NJ, for Constant Melodies.
Thaili Barrios, 11th Grade, from Hialeah Gardens, FL, for Let Her Eat Cake.
Vanessa Silva, 11th Grade, from Hackensack, NJ, for To Catch a Falling Star.
Jiyu Shin, 11th Grade, from Seoul, Korea, for Walking a Telescope’s Tightrope.
Maya Levine, 10th Grade, from Palo Alto, CA, for California Dreaming.
Lucia Shen, 9th Grade, from Hightstown, NJ, for On the Wire.
Dilara Sumbul, 8th Grade, from San Carlos, CA, for Fly Me To The Moon.
Jenny Hu, 8th Grade, from Cincinnati, OH, for Hang.
Charlie Dodd, 8th Grade, from Hillsborough, CA, for Southbound.
Elle Power, 8th Grade, from San Carlos, CA, for The Clock Hands Kept Moving.
Sofia Rosen, 7th Grade, from San Francisco, CA, for Landing Again.
Sonia Cherian, 7th Grade, from Palo Alto, CA, for The Radium Girls.
Aisling Archdeacon, 6th Grade, from Carlsbad, CA, for Cycling.
Aeka Joshi, 6th Grade, from Flagstaff, AZ, for Mightier Than The Sword.
Would you like a copy of the 2018 edition of Bluefire?
Want your own incredible volume of authentic young adult voices? Our journal is a
great resource for teachers, readers, and writers. Your purchase also supports our
nonprofit and allows us to continue encouraging young writers through events like
this contest. Below are two ways to purchase a copy:
Come to our Awards Celebration! (See the sidebar for details.) We will be selling
journals for $35 each.
Preorder and have your journal mailed to you in early May. Just email info@bluefire.org
with your name, address, and the number of copies you’d like.
Anyone who buys four or more journals, or makes a comparable donation, will be listed in next year’s
Bluefire as a benefactor.
Thank you to all our 2017 donors, journal purchasers, and contest judges! Thank you
also to Whole Foods for the generous donation in support of the
Leyla Beban Young Authors Foundation.