2024 Best True Unpublished Story

When he is referred to a treatment centre suffering from panic attacks, a respectable computer programmer is forced to come to terms with the consequences of his drug-taking past, including imprisonment for smuggling drugs from Pakistan.

I transformed from an average high-school senior and slightly above-average swimmer into the youngest person ever to finish one of Earth's most dangerous long-distance swims.

After the Feds unexpectedly knocked on the door looking for my father, my mental health took a dive. After an invasive investigation later, he pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges and was sentenced to a stint in federal prison. Moving away, I stumbled upon an unexpected saving grace in an eclectic...

A patient 's, myself, account, of being struck down with Crohn's Disease, Pericarditis and a Chronic Pain disorder. A fifteen year long journey, from hospital bound teenager, through near-death and recovery, to an adult believing in the power of hope and living well despite all physical afflictions.

Inspired by a true story, an elderly woman recounts the tales of her ancestors from the glittering age of the Romanovs through today, and how their struggles, sacrifices, and perseverance has impacted her decision whether or not to have an operation to save her life.

When my mother was 17, living in what is now Ukraine, the Russian army locked her in a cattle train to Siberia. This is the story of her escape from the prison of Russia. And it's the story of another escape—my journey, with my mother, to transcend the multi-generational effects of war and tyranny.

Adventure awaits a small little girl from New Orleans that takes her not only back in time, but across the ocean to Greece. She learns about another family and Greece. Sometimes dreams do come true.

As a 25-year-old autistic woman, my first nervous foray into dating takes me down a rabbit hole I never anticipated. Through a series of increasingly strange and intimate encounters that force me to confront a lifetime of masking and fear, I find polyamory, bisexuality and, maybe, true love.

After growing up in the carnival, the great grand daughter of a Canadian legend, nearly dying at 17, building a business from nothing, almost having my world destroyed by a stalker, while defying the odds as a single mother, life suddenly took a turn when I was forced to face a revelation by a man...

Had I remained a woman what course would my life have taken? A question I can never lay to rest. When I allow my mind to light upon Sara Scott, I think: All the unanswered questions that fall like blossoms to the ground. A memoir by a transman who transitioned long before it became an ideology.