The winner of the 2022 Story of the Year, along with the $50 prize and enshrinement in the Hall of Fame, is:

Cherry Blossom by Tim Boiteau

There is immense power and grief in this story, poetically evoked and juxtaposed against the freshness of the scene.

Honourable mentions go to After the Forest Caught Fire by J.S.P. Jacobs, Poor Devilish Me by Bob Thurber, and The Enormity of Small Things by Jennifer L. Freed.