Here, find the Six Word Wonder Past Winners. The Six Word Wonder Contest celebrates the art of saying something unforgettable in exactly six words. Since the contest began, writers from around the world have submitted stories, memoirs, poems, and jokes that prove just how much power can fit into a tiny space.
This page brings together the past winners of the Six Word Wonder Contest, along with a short history of how the competition has grown. If you are looking for inspiration, curious about previous champions, or wondering what kind of entry can win, this is the place to start.
If you are ready to try it yourself, you can also enter the current Six Word Wonder Contest here.
Six Word Wonder Past Winners- Table of Contents
A short history of the Six Word Wonder Contest
The Six Word Wonder Contest began in 2020 as a way to celebrate the launch of Six Word Wonder and encourage more people to try writing their own miniature masterpieces. What started as a creative challenge quickly grew into an international contest with thousands of entries from writers exploring how much emotion, humour, beauty, and surprise can be packed into six words.
By 2022, the contest was drawing more than 3,300 entries from around the world. By 2023, that number had grown to more than 24,000. The current contest page now notes that past contests have received more than 30,000 entries worldwide, showing just how much the Six Word Wonder form has captured imaginations.
Along the way, the contest has celebrated not just stories, but also poems, memoirs, and jokes. Winning entries have ranged from haunting and heartbreaking to witty and strange, which is part of what makes the form so addictive. Every year, the winner is crowned Six Word Wonder, receives a cash prize, and joins a growing history of remarkable miniature writing.
Want to understand the form better? You might also enjoy What Counts as a Word in a Six Word Story?, 21 Six Word Story Templates That Actually Work, and What Is Six Word Poetry?.
Six Word Wonder Past Winners
Six Word Wonder 2024 – Bentley Brock
Six Word Wonder 2024
Bentley Brock was named the overall winner of the 2024 Six Word Wonder Contest, as well as Best Six Word Wonder – Story. The 2024 contest was the fourth annual edition and also recognised category winners in story, poem, memoir, and joke, showing the wide range of writing that the contest now celebrates.
Hottest year of the decade, again.
Bentley Brock
The 2024 category winners were:
- Poem: Samiksha Ransom
- Memoir: Willow Flame
- Joke: Ali Ruiz Vázquez
Here, I am swan, ladybird, seahorse.
Tail wag. Injected skin. Time stops.
Agh! Mike… It… smells horrible… Mike?
Read the full 2024 winner announcement or explore many of the 2024 entries here.
Six Word Wonder 2023 – Madison Stahl
Winning Six Word Wonder:
Her wheelchair empty, they dance again.
Madison Stahl won the 2023 Six Word Wonder Contest with a line that is tender, haunting, and full of emotional space. The 2023 contest drew more than 24,000 entries, a huge leap in scale and a sign that the contest had grown into a major celebration of ultra-short writing.
Read the full 2023 winner post.
Six Word Wonder 2022 – Michelle Keeley
Winning Six Word Wonder:
Nobody knew where the oceans went.
Michelle Keeley was crowned Six Word Wonder 2022. That year, the contest received more than 3,300 entries from around the world and formally highlighted finalists across four categories: story, poem, memoir, and joke. Michelle’s winning line stood out for its unsettling mystery and sense of scale.
The 2022 category finalists were:
- Story: Michelle Keeley – Nobody knew where the oceans went.
- Poem: Sebya Gorre-Clancy – She wove spells into her sweaters.
- Memoir: Julie Bobzien – Saturday night dancing on Dad’s feet.
- Joke: Robert Carroll – Our marriage couldn’t survive the trombone.
Robert Carroll
Read the full 2022 finalists and winner page.
Six Word Wonder 2020 – Christy Hudson
Winning Six Word Wonder:
Gasping for air, she said goodbye
Christy Hudson won the 2020 Six Word Wonder Contest, the contest’s first year. The contest was launched to celebrate the publication of Six Word Wonder and quickly revealed just how much drama and feeling six words can contain. Doug Weller’s comments on the winning line stressed its emotional force and its painful relevance to the time.
Read the full 2020 winner post.
Why These Six Word Wonder Past Winners work
The past winners of the Six Word Wonder Contest do not all do the same thing. Some are emotional. Some are mysterious. Some hint at a whole life or a whole disaster in a single line. What they share is compression, impact, and the ability to leave the reader thinking beyond the words on the page.
If you want to study the form more closely, browse six word story examples, famous six word stories, and random 6 word memoirs.
Six Word Wonder Past Winners trophy (maybe)
Read more Six Word Wonders
If you enjoy these winning entries, there are plenty of ways to go deeper into the Six Word Wonder world:
- Enter the latest Six Word Wonder Contest
- Use the Microfiction Prompts Generator
- Explore the Six Word Wonder books
- Visit the Six Word Playground
- Read more about Doug Weller
Enter the Six Word Wonder contest
Think you could be the next name on this page?
The Six Word Wonder Contest is free to enter, open to stories, memoirs, poems, and jokes, and offers the chance to win a cash prize, get published, and join the growing history of the form.
Frequently Asked Questions about Six Word Wonder Past Winners
What is the Six Word Wonder Contest?
The Six Word Wonder Contest is a writing competition that challenges entrants to create something memorable in exactly six words. Entries can include stories, memoirs, poems, and jokes.
Who are the past winners of the Six Word Wonder Contest?
This page brings together the past winners of the Six Word Wonder Contest, along with links to the full winner announcements and featured entries from previous years.
Where can I read previous winning six word stories?
You can read past winning entries and winner announcements through the archive links on this page. For even more inspiration, you can also explore six word story examples and famous six word stories.
Explore More Beyond Six Word Wonders
If you enjoy six word writing and miniature storytelling, here are a few other places to explore for inspiration, prompts, and very short creative forms.
- Six-Word Memoirs – A well-known home for six-word life writing and memoir-inspired brevity.
- Reedsy Creative Writing Prompts – A useful place to find writing prompts across different moods and genres.
- Poets.org – A great source of poetry inspiration, forms, and ideas about how language creates emotional impact.
- Merriam-Webster – Handy for sharpening word choice when every single word matters.
Then, when you are ready, come back and see if you can create your own Six Word Wonder.
What kinds of entries can win?
Winning entries have included stories, poems, memoirs, and jokes. Some are funny, some are moving, and some are mysterious or haunting. What they share is impact, originality, and strong use of the six-word form.
How many words does a Six Word Wonder have to contain?
A Six Word Wonder must contain exactly six words. If you want help with tricky cases such as contractions, hyphenated words, numbers, and titles, read What Counts as a Word in a Six Word Story?.
Can I enter the current Six Word Wonder Contest?
Yes. If the contest is open, you can enter on the official Six Word Wonder Contest page.
Why read past winners?
Reading past winners is one of the best ways to understand what makes a six word entry work. You can see how different writers use compression, emotion, humour, surprise, and imagery to create something memorable in a tiny space.
Where can I get ideas for my own entry?
A good place to begin is with the Microfiction Prompts Generator, the six word story templates page, or the Six Word Playground.