Kaya Dierks

writer | she/her

Kaya Dierks is a Korean-American writer and an incoming freshman at Yale University. Her work has been recognized by The National YoungArts Foundation, The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, The New York Times, and others, and appears in The Adroit Journal, SmokeLong Quarterly, GASHER Journal, and more. She is the Fiction Editor of GASHER Journal.

Selected Prose honors

  • Best Microfiction | Nominee, SmokeLong Quarterly | 2022

  • The Pushcart Prize | Nominee, GASHER Journal | 2021

  • Scholastic Art & Writing Awards | Gold Medal, Short Story | 2021

  • Scholastic Art & Writing Awards | Gold Medal, Personal Essay | 2021

  • Fitzgerald Museum Literary Contest | Winner, 11/12 Grade | 2021

  • National YoungArts Foundation | Finalist, Short Story | 2020

  • Scholastic Art & Writing Awards | Gold Medal, Short Story | 2020

  • Scholastic Art & Writing Awards | Gold Medal, Personal Essay | 2020

  • Scholastic Art & Writing Awards | American Voices Medal | 2020

  • Adroit Prize for Prose | Finalist | 2020

  • National YoungArts Foundation | Honorable Mention, Short Story | 2019

  • Columbia College Chicago Young Authors Competition | First Place, Fiction | 2018

  • New York Times Summer Reading Contest | Winner | 2017

Selected Script Honors

  • California Young Playwrights Contest | Winner | 2021

  • National YoungArts Foundation | Finalist, Play/Script | 2020

  • Scholastic Art & Writing Awards | Gold Medal, Play/Script | 2019

  • YouthPlays New Voices One-Act Competition | Honorable Mention | 2018

Editing Experience

  • Fiction Editor | GASHER Journal | 2021-Present

  • CNF Reader | Pidgeonholes | 2021-Present

  • Prose Editor | The Bitter Fruit Review | 2021-Present

  • CNF Reader | EX/POST | 2021-Present

  • Student Review Board Member | Skipping Stones Magazine | 2018-2019

  • First Reader | Polyphony Lit | 2018-2018

Internships & Other

  • Contest Judge | The Incandescent Review Art & Writing Contest | Incoming 2021

  • Prose Mentor | The Incandescent Summer Studio | 2021

  • Writing Mentor | WritopiaLab Summer Workshops | 2020

Programs

  • National YoungArts Week | Funded | Mentee, Story | 2020

  • Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship | Funded | Mentee, Fiction | 2020

  • YoungArts Los Angeles | Funded | Mentee, Story | 2019

  • Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop | Mentee | 2019

  • NYU Tisch Summer High School Dramatic Writing Program | Mentee | 2019

Interviews

Adroit Reading

YoungArts Readings