Maps of the Self Challenge Winners
A behind-the-scenes glimpse at the Vocal Curation Team’s top picks from Maps of the Self.
Happy Thanksgiving Eve. We’re especially grateful today for the ways you show up with honesty, creativity, and heart.
We all carry maps. Of who we’ve been, what we’ve felt, and the paths we’ve taken to get here. In this Challenge, we asked you to chart something that can’t be folded up or pinned to a wall, to trace a shape made of memory, identity, or change.
These entries were personal, surprising, and quietly powerful. Whether charting family ties or internal shifts, each one revealed something just beneath the surface.
Here are the ones we’re still thinking about..
🏆 Winners
Médea's Recipes for Life by Imola Tóth
Imola Tóth masterfully uses the metaphor of a recipe book to map lineage and personal transformation, making each culinary ritual a waypoint in a journey of resilience and identity.
we knew we were loved by John Cox
John Cox intricately charts the evolution of self through layers of memory and metaphor, creating a vivid architecture of consciousness. What lingers is how he gives shape to the unseen influence of loved ones, tracing their imprints on his soul with a narrative that feels both intimate and expansive.
Pop! Goes the We-Easel by Caroline Jane
Caroline Jane's piece uses a playful yet introspective structure to map the landscape of artistic identity. The palindromic structure works as both form and metaphor, giving a layered look at creativity and self-doubt.
The Topography of a Third Date by Aubrey Rebecca
Aubrey Rebecca uses scars as a clear, tangible way to explore memory and vulnerability. Her piece moves with quiet honesty, tracing how trust and connection take shape over time.
The Backrooms of the Author's Mind by Amos Glade
Amos Glade turns the subconscious into a vivid, winding landscape where memory, fear, and identity overlap. The originality lies in how he crafts a whimsical, chaotic journey through personal backrooms, using vivid metaphors and cinematic imagery.
🎖️ Runners-up
- Mapping My Tears by Paul Stewart
- Perfect by Elizabeth Kaye Daugherty
- Neither Here Nor There by Emily Ryan
- Flicker Book by Gus Gresham
- Seventeen by Kayla Bud
- Raymond by Guia Nocon
- four journals by Mallory Rose
- Unremarkable Me by Sam Spinelli
- a small bit of twine by Heather Hubler
- My Mental Health Journey in Map Pins by Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA
- The Path to Sand by Mackenzie Davis
- Deaf in a loud world by Caitlin Charlton
- "Ulenahida". The Lost One. by Novel Allen
- Shut up Sara by Sara Wilson
- Four-Star Thoughts by Nicky Frankly
🏅 Honorable Mentions
- Auto-Cartography by River and Celia in Underland
- Mapping Us by Harper Lewis
- God Is Dead And I Feel Fine by Raistlin Allen
- New Frontiers of a Fragmented Heart by Lindsay Shiner Packard
- Right-Handed Adultery by Thomas Speer
- The Cartographer by S. A. Crawford
- Uncharted home by AggieSoon
- Not Aimless by Tanya Lei
- The Nature of True Reality by Ian Lund
- Unearthing the Rapture of the Energetic Self by Sierra Peloian
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Comments (25)
Congratulations to all of the winners! I took a little Vocal break, but I will read all of your entries.💖
best
very inspiring , congrats to all winners in this platform
Loved everyone’s stories
Such an inspiring collection of voices and stories. Congratulations to all the winners and runners-up, this community continues to amaze with its honesty and creativity. Beautiful selections by the Vocal team. — Annie from SoftlyWished team
Congratulations everyone!!
Congratulations to all the winners and everyone who participated! Looking forward to a lot of great reads!
Congrats you all!
Great job you guys 👏👏👏
Congrats peeps!
congrats all!
Oh, I am honored 🥹 Congratulations to everyone 🖤🖤🖤
Congratulations to everyone! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Well done everyone 🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🏆
Thank you :) And a hearty congratulations to all the winners!
Yay Congratulations All! 🥳🎉🎉🎉🎉
Congratulations to All 🌞🙂🌝❤️😊🌸💥☘️💥
The way I almost fell off of my couch! 🫨🥹 I came to congratulate everyone who won... to see my own name as a runner up. 🤯🤯 I have never made any placement. This is my first time and I'm honestly so honored to be included among this amazing group of stories. Super congrats to all of the winners! I have read some of these but am off to catch up on the ones I missed 💗
OMG thank you so much for this! ❤️ It's probably the most important win in my life. My grandmother basically raised me, so placing first with a story that is about her means a lot to me. Congrats to everyone who also placed on this challenge! I read many stories listed here and really loved them! ❤️
Congratulations everyone! Well deserved. Enjoy your moment and celebrate it! 🥳
Congratulations everyone!
Wow, what an honor! Congratulations to the other winners!!!!!
Congratulations, everyone!
I need to rub my eyes and look again. Oh my word, thank you so much to the Vocal team. I have no clue what else to say. I’ve tried and tried and thought I would never even appear here, let alone as runner-up! To be proven wrong? This is a dream come true! ♥️🤗🙏🏽🖤 Congratulations to everyone listed here! 🎊🎉🎊🏆
Congratulations to everyone!