We are thrilled to announce the winner of the 2025 Merit of Distinction Literary category for the DICAA (Distinction in Creative Arts Award). The esteemed award is presented to Dennis Roumm for his compelling work, Antietam Affairs (ISBN 979-8991418119). Our focus was to award books and other creative works written by human authors.
This year’s competition was exceptional, with many outstanding entries. We would also like to announce our two remarkable finalists for their incredible contributions: Michael J. Bowler for Forever Boy and Charles R. Rogers for The Brazos Valley Files and special mention finalist, Kathleen Brehony for The Third Act.
Each nominated work was determined to be exceptional, meaningful, and worthy. We evaluated each entry for narration, pacing, quality of writing, layout and formatting, cover design, and most importantly, for the originality of the story and plot. Congratulations to all of the authors for their remarkable achievements and outstanding work.
WINNER:
Antietam Affairs (On sale now) Amazon | Barnes and Noble
Dennis Roumm
Review of award-winning title:
A pair of friends who share a love of Civil War history learns that a developer has purchased a historical piece of land and will build housing on what they feel is sacred ground. This becomes the catalyst that leads to one of the friends traveling back in time to a Civil War battlefield where he encounters his soulmate in a past timeline, in a love that spans from the Civil War to modern times. Sam and Kelly have loved each other in a past life. Antietam Affairs is rich tale and a blend of historical fiction, paranormal science-fiction, and romance that navigates multiple timelines, romances, and characters with relative ease in what could have been a complex or convoluted novel but manages to navigate each territory with a deft hand. Putting the high concept plot aside, the crux of the story is one of romance, but also the bond of friendship which is allowed to shine as brightly as the dual romances, past and present. Antietam Affairs takes its time, builds on the tension and suspense, in what is ultimately, an epic literary journey.
FINALISTS:
Forever Boy
Michael J. Bowler
The Brazos Valley Files
Charles R. Rogers.
Screenshot
The Third Act
Kathleen Brehony
WINNER
We are thrilled to announce the winner of the 2025 Merit of Distinction in Artistic Expression category for the DICAA (Distinction in Creative Arts Award). The esteemed award is presented to Mariella Spagnolo for the documentary, ਮਾਰੀ ਜੀ ਬਣਨਾ | : Becoming Mari Ji.
Becoming Mari Ji, a short film was chosen in September 2025, as the winner for our art and film category for its authenticity in the documentary category and its focus on humanity, culture, and people to tell her story without a need for special effects or artificial enhancements.
The DICAA Merit of Distinction team is comprised of volunteers whose goal is to maintain the literary and artistic achievements of human authors and artists in an industry where non-human generative artificial software can generate books, film, and art independent of human creativity.
FINALIST
This year’s competition was exceptional, with many outstanding entries. We would also like to announce our finalist in the Artistic Expression category for his incredible contribution: James Ewings II for Dragon’s Egg.
Each nominated work was deemed to be exceptional, meaningful, and worthy, evaluated for originality, meaningfulness, beauty, and expression. Congratulations to the artists for their outstanding visual work.