Laura Cruser is the winner of the 2025 Doris Betts Fiction Prize, for her story “The Whittaker Wall,” which final judge Leah Hampton praises for its “memorable imagery.”
The author will receive $250 from the North Carolina Writers’ Network. The story will be published in the 2026 print issue of the North Carolina Literary Review and nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Read the full story for judge’s comments and the other finalists on the North Carolina Writers’ Network website.
