College of Law 3L Kayla Mathews Wins Fourth Annual Legal Fiction Workshop

Belmont University College of Law recently announced the winner of its fourth annual Legal Fiction Workshop. Third-year law student Kayla Mathews won for her entry entitled, “100 Small Choices.” The story follows an attorney on an emotional journey when a client reminds her of her younger self.  

Mathews’ story was chosen through an anonymized review process by an outside community reader, Nashville Public Defender and team leader for Division One of the Davidson County Criminal Court Chad Hindman, Esq.  

“‘100 Small Choices’ was chosen as the winner because the writer created the most effective blending of an exploration of the struggles of a legal professional with a confident writing style, which allowed the reader to enter the world of the story without much effort,” Hindman said. “[Mathews] crafted a plot that wrapped in on itself—an unlikely confluence of crossing paths, and a bit of a shaky structure that kept standing because the writer put enough attention and care into the foundation.” 

Belmont’s Legal Fiction Workshop is intended to serve as a creative outlet for law students amidst the rigorous demands of their studies. A limited number of second- and third-year law students are eligible to participate in the workshop which has produced the past two winners of the American Bar Association’s Legal Fiction Contest. Professor Kristi Arth in the College of Law teaches the workshop and designed it as an incubator and space for students to produce creative work capable of publication.