Written by Tasnim Hussain, Program Manager at Writopia Lab
On February 18th, 2025, Writopia Publishing Lab celebrated the launch of Frightopia: The Second Edition with a celebratory reading for all 72 contributors. It was an uplifting and inspiring evening filled with writers, ages 7 to 16, who read excerpts of their published pieces to each other, their friends, and their families. The chatbox and Zoom room were filled with supportive comments, excited reactions, and pleas to keep reading.
Congratulations to the 15 contributors who read and shared their pieces at this event!
- Nefeli Antonogiannakis
- Ethan Boies
- Levon Broderick
- Zachary Cho
- Liam Chung
- Riya Doshi
- Olivia Jones
- Naomi Katz-Moss
- Ella Kinsbruner
- Henry Lomma
- Teal Meyers
- Eva Riegel
- Peyton Schleef
- Makela Shen
- Devin Wong
- William Zhang
The celebratory reading marks the end of the 2024 Halloween Story contest season. But how did we get here? Well, this past October, we launched a call to submissions for stories, poems and comics inspired by Halloween-themed prompts. We were met with so much excitement, joy and creativity from the community and received over 180 submissions. All 180 submissions were read and adjudicated by a team of ten published writers, authors, and playwrights.
The adjudication process led to a stunning collection of 72 selected stories that were edited, then produced into a beautifully designed anthology. Each and every story in the anthology is thought provoking, hair-raising, and spooktacular in its own way.
Congratulations to all the selected published contributors, and the winners of the Halloween story contest (in bold).
- Axel Ku, 6
- Ethan Boies, 7
- Azali Arif, 7
- Brooke Asmar, 7
- Ella F. Kinsbruner, 8
- Eva Riegel, 8
- Emilia Rachel Wong, 8
- Emi Kim, 9
- Levon Broderick, 9
- Josephine Cho, 9
- Emica Mehicic, 9
- Charlotte Kim, 9
- Anna Baranchuk, 9
- Nora Loriferne, 9
- Lily Volpp, 9
- Boyana Dyankova, 9
- Naomi Katz-Moss, 9
- Astrid Chou, 9
- Robin Crosswhite-Evans, 10
- Jenna Laux, 10
- Nathan Fong, 10
- Soniya Chada, 10
- Mina Parry, 10
- Viola Gallagher, 10
- Astrid Fleischer, 10
- Sebastian Gonzalez, 10
- Zachary Cho, 11
- Theo Kern, 11
- Liam Chung, 11
- Leela Fleck, 11
- Nirali Yedendra, 11
- Nefeli Antonogiannakis, 11
- Marion Wang, 11
- Parker Allen, 11
- Chelsea Panfilova, 12
- Casimir Sifton, 12
- Dean Kedem, 12
- Carter Wang, 12
- Myra Virnig, 12
- Olivia Jones, 12
- Anabelle Swidler, 12
- Evamary Varghese, 12
- Andi Forte, 12
- William Zhang, 12
- Juliana Norinsberg, 12
- Cleo Takesh Mohseni, 12
- Riya Doshi, 13
- Chloe Madison Frazier, 13
- Kian Darvishian, 13
- Devin Wong, 13
- Ellen Booth, 13
- Theo Scoblic, 13
- Makela S., 14
- Teal Meyers, 14
- Peyton Schleef, 14
- Brianna Su, 14
- Jonathan Zhang, 14
- Alma Metlitsky, 14
- Matteo Brigandi, 14
- Henry Lomma, 14
- Niki Takesh Mohseni, 14
- Maya Daniels, 15
- Mira Snider, 15
- Greta Garcia, 15
- Ava Grunberg, 15
- Julia Rosen, 15
- Sonali Browning, 15
- Sabrina Claire Kim, 15
- Story Hadfield, 16
- Sophia Patz, 16
- Emily Dong, 16
- Quinn Stromberg, 16
