DIAJ Award Winners

Door Is A Jar Literary Magazine annually honors its contributors that best represented the year's submissions. The award goes to someone in each category we publish. Anyone who submits work to Door is a Jar Literary Magazine has a chance at winning this award.

The 2025 DIAJ Award winners:

The Bee by Emily Molinari (Poetry)

Tuulikki Bakes a Cake by September Woods Garland (Fiction)

Thunk by Robin Brooks (Nonfiction)

Buddy's Picasso by Komal Sharma (Art)

TOWER TOUR by Brian C. Billings (Drama)

A Review of Larks by Han VanderHart by Eleanor Ball (Book Review)

When judging for this award, we look for pieces that are accessible and relatable in a way that goes hand in hand with one of our core values — the value of making our publication open and available to everyone.

POETRY

The Bee by Emily Molinari (Issue 36 Fall 2025)

Emily Molinari (she/her) is a Canadian poet and writer from New Westminster, British Columbia. Her writing draws from her lived experience as a queer woman with mental illness. She is passionate about supporting community and local arts movements, and runs a small-batch zine called SAPP that publishes print editions alongside in-person arts events.

FICTION

Tuulikki Bakes a Cake by September Woods Garland (Issue 37 Winter 2025)

September Woods Garland hails from the Pacific Northwest where she enjoys taking long, romantic walks through haunted houses and feeding Bigfoot peanut butter & seaweed sandwiches. Her work has been supported by Hypatia in the Woods and has appeared in Crow & Cross Keys, Roi Fainéant Press, The Squawk Back, and elsewhere. September serves as Editor in Chief at Weird Lit Magazine. www.septemberwoodsgarland.com

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NONFICTION

Sweating Like a Mother by Alina Zollfrank (Issue 35 Summer 2025)

Alina Zollfrank from (former) East Germany now writes and curses trilingually in the Pacific Northwest. She's spent years supporting and advocating for families of kids with developmental disabilities and chronic health care needs. Alina loathes medical exam rooms without windows, spends more time on her yoga mat napping than stretching, and believes that chocolate cures all.

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ART

Buddy's Picasso by Komal Sharma (Issue 34 Spring 2025)

I am a self-taught artist and done a Master's in Architecture at the University of Newcastle. My mural has been featured in ArchDaily, and I am excited to announce that I will be showcasing my work in a solo exhibition at Ladder Art Space Gallery in Kew, Melbourne. Originally from Chandigarh, I have lived in various regions of India due to my father's service in the Indian Air Force. The artist statement for the art pieces: Welcome to “Animals in the Now” an exploration of present moment through the animals. You might find them in your own home, in your neighbour’s yard, or across the street, quietly observing you in search of your attention. As we live in a whirlwind of thoughts and distractions, our furry friends remain steadfast, fully engaged with their surroundings. When they gaze at the world, they invite us to pause, breathe, and truly connect.

DRAMA

TOWER TOUR by Brian C. Billings (Issue 36 Fall 2025)

Brian C. Billings is a professor of drama and English at Texas A&M University-Texarkana and the editor-in-chief for "Aquila Review," the university’s literary journal. In addition to managing TAMU-T’s drama program, he teaches courses in drama, creative writing, and children's literature. Publishers for his scripts include Eldridge Publishing and Heuer Publishing.