Congratulations to the Winners of the
4th Annual Liminal Essay Contest!

COLLEGE AWARDS

1st Place:‍ ‍“The Work of the Liminal” by Emily Brown, Thomas More University sophomore

2nd Place: “The Dream of an Eternal Story” by Cooper Stokes, MU-Columbia sophomore

3rd Place: “Losing Good Fortune” by Sydney Van De Hei, MU-Columbia junior

HIGH SCHOOL AWARDS

1st Place:‍ ‍“On Liminality in Goodbye, Bonavento: A Doorway or a Cage?” by Sophia Tzvetanov, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology senior

2nd Place: “The Crucible of Change: Liminality as a Catalyst for Transformation in Goodbye Bonavento” by Morgan Shoken, Williamsburg High School For Architecture and Design junior

3rd Place:‍ ‍“Liminality: a Rising Tide” by Saanvi Reddy, Franklin High School sophomore

Click the links above to read the winning essays!

Judge Timothy Carson said this of the high school entries:

“By engaging with this powerful story these young writers toured the haunted halls of liminality which are never simple, easy or even solvable. So very often liminality is a condition as much as a passage. And that, as so much literature of the ages testifies, holds equal measures of tragedy and hope. In one way or another all of these writers walked the line between those magnetized poles.”

Judge Mary Potter said this of the college entries:

#1  “The Work of the Liminal” analyzes the challenging transformational work of liminality through the narrative arc of the story’s protagonist, giving the reader both a clear grasp of the story and a clear view of what liminal experience is, how it works, and, sometimes, fails to work in particular circumstances. “The story is not only about poverty under occupation or the loss of a beloved monkey; it is about inhabiting the unstable space where identity is made and unmade. Kruse renders liminality not as backdrop but as crucible.” Sketching out the intersecting dimensions of that crucible of “in-betweenness” in the story leads the author to conclude that the story “portrays liminality as a dynamic threshold where identity is destabilized and reconstituted under pressure. Through spatial crossing, linguistic mediation, symbolic loss, and decisive performance, Angela moves from paralysis to decisive action.” The clarity of the prose, the precision of the analysis of liminality, and the apt use of selected details from the story all come together to make this an essay that honors the story as story while exploring the concept of liminality.

#2 “The Dream of an Eternal Story” approaches the liminal in this story as a specific kind of change within our ever-changing lives and interprets that experience primarily in terms of loss and “disenfranchising grief.” I found the author’s emphasis on the need for a guide during such threshold experiences (the protagonist’s father who serves as her companion along the way) compelling: “It is through the comfort of others that we learn to live with the shift that our life has undergone, and thus emerge from The Liminal Loop as a character emerges at the end of a story: changed.”

#3 “Losing Good Fortune” highlights a broad view of liminality and how it shows up in the story in “liminal states within liminal experiences within liminal periods,” a comprehensive view often missed when discussing liminality. I also appreciated how the author calls attention to two details that are often overlooked when analyzing liminality: the physical triggers or catalysts for liminal experiences, for example, the tin cup the protagonist uses and her dancing."

4th Annual Liminal Essay Contest
Submissions open January 1, 2026 and close March 1, 2026

SUBMISSION PERIOD IS NOW CLOSED.

College Awards

$250 1st Place

$75 2nd Place

$25 3rd Place

HIGH SCHOOL AWARDS

$250 1st Place

$75 2nd Place

$25 3rd Place

The Liminal Essay Contest criteria

High school contestants must be enrolled in high school (or homeschool) and college contestants must be enrolled in an undergraduate program at an accredited college or university for spring semester 2026. Scholarship winners must send proof of enrollment prior to receiving funds.

• Contestants shall submit an essay of 700-1,000 words on an aspect or aspects of liminality in “Goodbye, Bonavento” from S. K. Kruse’s short story collection, Tales From the Liminal.Download a free copy of the story here. (No purchase required.)

• Contestants must fill out and submit the online form and essay by 11:59 pm CST, March 1st, 2026.Submission form can be found below.

• The decisions of the judges are final and binding.

• Past winners, as well as friends, students, and relatives of the judges are ineligible to apply.

• AI USE POLICY: This is a contest for human-generated ideas and articulations. You may use AI tools to help you copyedit your paper or tighten a sentence or two, but be sure to limit your use of AI tools to these purposes for this contest. We expect (and want!) to hear YOUR IDEAS in YOUR VOICE. Thank you in advance for your integrity in this matter.

  BE SURE TO:

• remove ALL identifying information from essay document.

• include ONLY YOUR INITIALS with essay title and page number in header of each page.

• MATCH essay title in form field to essay title in document and filename.

• use standard MLA formatting.

• select correct entry level in submission form: High School or College.

High school and college essays will be judged in separate competitions. In March of 2026, contest winners will be notified and shared on skkruse.com and social media, as well as with contest winners’ school and relevant media outlets. A picture and short bio of the winners will be requested at that time. In addition, S. K. Kruse will schedule a live virtual author visit with the winning classes, offering students the opportunity to discuss the contest, writing, and the power of the liminal in literature and life.

So, what is THE LIMINAL?

THE LIMINAL is a time, place, or state of being that’s betwixt and between. Neither here nor there. If it’s a time, it might be a summer of travel, a year of illness, or a period of war. If it’s a place, it might be a staircase, airport, or refugee camp. If it’s a state of being, it might be the experience of not fitting into the world’s tidy categories and feeling like you exist somewhere between them. Or it might be the experience of no longer fitting into your own tidy categories but feeling unable to find your way out of them yet. If this is the case, you didn’t end up there by accident. Something new is emerging in you, and for that to happen, some old things need to fall away. Darkness, confusion, and disorientation are to be expected. Just make sure you let the liminal do its work in you. You’ll be glad you did.