Blair Bigham is an emergency physician, scientist and writer. He is completing his critical care fellowship at Stanford. His first book, Dead Dead, is forthcoming in 2022. He is the winner for the prose category of the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for his story “Into The Abyss“

Grace Li is a graduate of Duke University, where she studied biology and creative writing, and is currently a medical student at Stanford University. Her debut novel, Portrait of a Thief, comes out Spring 2022 from Tiny Rep Books. She is the runner-up for the prose category of the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for her story, “Anatomy Lessons”

Richard Wu is a medical student at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and an alumnus of the Eugene McDermott Scholars Program at the University of Texas at Dallas. Richard is passionate about the intersection between medicine and the arts, and enjoys writing stories, creating art, and composing music. He is an editor for the medical humanities website Doctors Who Create, an editor for the medical humanities literary magazine Scope, and a member of the Pegasus Physician Writers at Stanford. His writing has been recognized in the Paul Kalanithi Writing Contest, nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and published in Bellevue Literary Review, Nature, Family Medicine, Lifelines, The Healing Muse, and elsewhere. He is the honorable mention for the prose category the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for his story, “6 Feet Apart”

Soo Hyun Choi is a third-year medical student at Tulane University School of Medicine. Prior to medical school, she completed a B.A. in Studio Art and French. She is the Winner of the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award in the poetry category for her piece, "EB."

Megana Dwarakanath MD, M.Ed is a current adolescent medicine fellow at UPMC in Pittsburgh. She loves tea, green trees, biking, running, writing, and spending time with her husband, Rahul, and their 3 month old daughter, Meera. She is the runner-up of the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award in the poetry category for her piece “Four Seasons of Addiction”

Rebecca Grossman-Kahn, MD, MBA is a first-year resident in Psychiatry at the University of Minnesota. Her professional interests include medical education, clinical ethics, and narrative medicine.  She is the winner for the prose category the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for her story, “Cold Coffee and Histology”

Rachel H. Han is a fourth year medical student at the Uniformed Services University for the Health Sciences. She will be starting her psychiatry residency training at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center upon graduation. She is the runner-up for the prose category of the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for her story, “The Manic Korean Patient: 'Refusing Labs.'”

Jessica Herrmann is a first-year medical student at the Stanford University School of Medicine. She graduated from Harvard College, where she studied biomedical engineering and English. Prior to medical school, she completed an M.S. in bioengineering at Stanford. She is the winner of the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award in the poetry category for her piece, “Transformation.”

Diana Lee is a second-year medical student at Dartmouth. She is the Runner-Up for the poetry category of the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for her poem, "Faces." 

Lisa Jacobs, MD, MBA is a fellow in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and an adult psychiatrist in private practice. She is working on her first book, from which this is an excerpt.  She is the winner for the prose category the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for her story, “Trapped In A Blizzard with a Politician in Withdrawal.”

James Hyun Lee is a third year medical student at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, pursuing Child and Adolescent Psychiatry as a career. He adores music and corgis. He is the runner-up for the prose category the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for his story, “Conversations with Joanne.”

Pablo is a second-year medical student at Stanford University. He was born in LA but spent his childhood in Guadalajara, Mexico, where his family is from. His days are filled with all types of learning: about medicine, about his classmates and friends, and about himself. He is the honorable mention for the prose category the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for his story, “An Education.”

Liana Meffert is currently a first-year medical student at Carver College of Medicine of the University of Iowa. Prior to medical school, she graduated from Emory University with a double major in creative writing and neuroscience and completed a research fellowship at the NIH. She is the Winner for the poetry category of the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for her poem, “What You See Here, Stays Here.”

Sarah Rosenbaum is currently a second year child adolescent psychiatry fellow and an adult psychiatrist at Stanford. She is the Runner-Up for the poetry category of the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for her poem, “Fire Is A Season.”

Lara is a Stanford University Graduate from the Class of 2017. She majored in Conceptual History, and minored in Persian Studies. Her debut memoir, Rough Magic, charting her ride in the world's longest horserace, will be published in March 2019. She is the 2018 winner of the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for her story, the water in which we swim.

Michelle Liu, MD is currently a 1st year fellow at Stanford in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She is the Runner-Up of the Irvin D. Yalom Lterary Award for her poem, Two Doctors.

Dexter Louie, a first year resident in the Psychiatry Training Program, is the 2018 honorable mention for the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for his short story, New Psychiatrist: Overwhelmed And Delirious. 

Harika Kottakota, Stanford University Class of 2020, pursuing her B.S. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology with minors in Human Rights and Global Studies. She is the 2018 Honorable Mention for the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for her poem, Hu-Man. 

Trevor Mooney, Stanford University Graduate 2014, Currently a medical student at UCLA Class of 2018, is the 2017 winner of the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for his short story, Caddywumpus.

Anne-Sophie Bine, Stanford University Class of 2018, is the 2017 runner up of the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for her short story, Golden.

Allegra Padula, Colgate University, Class of 2019, is the 2017 honorable mention for the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for her short story, Humanistic Tendencies.

Maya Kasowski, PhD, is the 2015 winner of the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for her short story, Three Months of Distraction.

Maya has a PhD in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and is currently a medical student at Yale University School of Medicine.

Ashley Pin-Yi Geo, Stanford University Class of 2015 in Human Biology, is the 2015 runner up for the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for her short story, Support.