- MFA in Writing with an emphasis in Creative Nonfiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
- Inaugural winner of the 2020 Sandra Carpenter Prize for Creative Nonfiction/First Pages Prize.
https://www.firstpagesprize.com/inspiration/writing-is-how-i-stay-immortal-how-a-passion-to-share-led-allison-hong-merrill-to-win
https://www.scmemorialfund.com/creative-nonfiction-prize
https://youtu.be/vjsUtO52Cbo
https://www.firstpagesprize.com/ - Grand Prize winner of the 2019 MAST People of Earth writing contest.
- First Place Winner of the 2019 Segullah Journal writing contest.
- National Champion (Grand Prize winner) in the Life Story writing contest (Taipei, Taiwan).
- First Place Winner of the 2020 Opossum Prize Flash Prose Contest.
- Runner-up in the 2020 Q2 Women On Writing Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest.
https://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/downloads/printable/95-FE1-Q22020EssayContest-Allison-Hong-Merrill.html
https://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/search?q=Allison+Hong+Merrillhttps://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/search?q=Allison+Hong+Merrill - Third Place in the 2015 Storymakers Conference First Chapter Contest.
- 2020 Pushcart Prize nominee for the essay, Lightning Whisperer 與閃電的對話.
- Honorable Mention in the 79th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Contest.
- Honorable Mention in the 89th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Contest.
- Honorable Mention in the 2020 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest.
https://winningwriters.com/past-winning-entries/the-gift - Finalist in the 2020 Q3 Women On Writing Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest.
- Finalist in the Tulip Tree Publishing Stories that Need to be Told Writing Contest.
- Shortlisted finalist in the 2020 DL Jordan Prize for Literary Excellence.
- Shortlisted finalist in the 2020 Fish Publishing Memoir Award.
- Shortlisted finalist in the 2019 Eyelands Book Awards (Athens, Greece).
- Shortlisted finalist in the 2019 New Millennium Writing Award XLVIII.
- Shortlisted finalist in the 2014 Serendipity Memoir Discovery Contest.
- Finalist in the 2020 Midway Journal Flash Prose and Poetry Contest.
- Featured interviewee for KSL (TV Show) Mormon Times, March 4, 2011.
- Featured interviewee for Roots Tech Conference 2015.
- Featured interviewee for the Latter-Day Saints Channel, May 30, 2020.
- Featured interviewee for the Dialogue Journal podcast.
- Committee member of the Storymakers Writer’s Conference.
- Allison’s work appears in the following publications:
- Life Story Anthology (Taipei, Taiwan)
- Liahona Magazine (Taipei, Taiwan)
- LDS Beta Reader Mind Game Anthology
- Ensign Magazine
- Flying South Literary Magazine
- Dialogue Journal
- Motherscope Magazine
- Past-Ten Journal
https://www.past-ten.com/single-post/AllisonHongMerrill - Cosmonauts Avenue
https://cosmonautsavenue.com/allison-hong-merrill/
