"The best anthologies don't just collect stories, they compose a conversation. Ember and Vine Nonfiction does exactly that."

—Grant Faulkner, Executive Producer of America's Next Great Author, Co-founder of Memoir Nation, Flash Fiction Institute, and 100 Word Story

This nonfiction collection brings together award-winning voices across literature and film as they reflect on the pivotal moments that reshaped their lives. Edited by Julie Cantrell and Janyre Tromp, these thought-provoking essays span personal, cultural, and spiritual terrain, tracing how true transformation takes root and matures over time to shift one's perspective.

Honest, vulnerable, and deeply human, each piece looks beyond the initial event to examine the lessons learned and the wisdom gained.

By sharing their experiences, each author portrays how a single catalyst can grow into a deeper sense of identity, purpose, connection, and hope.

Through an introspective lens of truth and courage, these writers invite you to pause, to reflect on the turning points in your own story, and to consider what is still growing and changing within you.

Essays By:

A.E. Abbington

Linda-Marie Barrett

Antonia Deignan

Dana Shane Kennedy

Julie Klein (Judges' Choice)

Frank Larrabaster

Karen Ott Mayer

Naz Pankey (Judges' Choice)

Stacey Powells

J. R. Scalf

Sandra Sharp

Deborah Svec-Carstens

Janyre Tromp

Jane Ann Valentine (Judges' Runner-Up)

Vicki VanArsdale

Rick Wilson (Judges' Runner-Up)

Sharon Wise