2020 Competition: Finalists and Semi-finalists

The selections of finalists and semi-finalists in the nine categories of the  2020 William Faulkner – William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition have been completed and the results are as follows:
NOVEL
Finalists
All the Elements Were There, Hilary Key, London, England
Alternate Ending, Michael Sadowski, Rhinebeck, NY
American Heroine, Katherine Lim, London, UK
And Trouble Followed, Michael T. Tusa Jr., Abita Springs, LA
And Yet It Moves, Matthew Minson, Langley Spring, TX
Before We Fall Away,
Black Rice, Sandra Opoku-Jackson, Chicago, IL
Children of Zojoji, Tinker Babbs, Tesuque, NM
Chosen Family, Phillip-John Puzzo, Bensenville, IL
Cornered, Ronnie Wright, Jr., Denham Springs, LA
Crescent Lane, Katrine Gray, El Sobrante, CA
Demolition, Julie Morin, Portland, OR
Eleanor, Todd Copeland, Waco, TX
Flood Money, Adam McCulloch, Palm Springs, CA
Force Times Distance, Stacia Saint Owens, London, UK
Good Fortune Sweet Journeys, Frank S. Johnson, Greenfield, MO
Here’s How I Will Burn Down the World, Patricia Grace King, Durham, UK
Here We Go Loop Da Loop, William Sibley, San Antonio, TX
Holding Cassandra, S. A. Slosberg, Bronxville, NY
Holy City, Henry Wise, Lexington, VA
Hunted Souls, Melissa, Milstead
In Beast, Morgan M. X. Schultz, Kawasaki, Japan
Killing Jack Armstrong, Robert Bachner, New York, NY
Mystifying Isabellla, C. T. Torres, Huntsville, AL
No Harm Done, Dominick Venezia,
Okwa, Katia Mitova, Chicago, IL
On a Rush of Silent Wings, Laine Cunningham, Durham, NC
Pixey’s Sister, Nancy Bruett, Manchester, MA
Prosperity’s Children, Lou Dischler, Spartanburg, SCzzz
Reasons Why, Amanda Dubarle, Saint Maurice, France
Rocking Chair, Nancy Brock, Columbia, SC
Ruler of a Forest Deep, John S. Tarlton, Baton Rouge, LA
Show World/Chaotic Novel, Benjamin Heim Shepard, Brooklyn, NY
Smoke Before Fire, Megan Baxter, Jordan, NY
Soaked, Toby LeBlanc, Austin, TX
Stay With Me A Little Longer, Steve Adams, Memphis, TN
The Baptism of Maggie Still, Lane Stewart, Athens, GA
The Bears of Winter, Cindy Willis, Burien, WA
The Book of Edna, Sue Martinez, Savannah, GA
The Day Before We Died, Kurt Klinghoffer, Pooler, GA
The Librarian, Justin Swingle, West Hollywood, CA
The Reinvented, William J. Cobb, State College, PA
The Rustling of a Wing, Mal King, Santa Paula, CA
The Silver Trail, Adam McCulloch, Palm Springs, CA
The Sound of Southern Rainbows, Jace Johnson, New Orleans, LA
The Things of a Child, Jay M. Korn, San Rafael, CA
The Vermillion Sea, Marylee MacDonald, Santa Rosa, CA
This Is Ellen Jones Reporting, Alayne Smith, Lawrenceville, GA
Tupelo Road, Tom Irwin, Concord, NH
Upton Arms: An Active Lifestyle Home for the Paranormal, Scott Craven, Tempe, AZ
Voice of Treason, Michael Ditchfield, Edgartown, MA
What the New Woman Learned, Gay Porter DeNileon, Wheat Ridge CO
When The Levee Breaks, Emily Beck Cogburn, Baton Rouge, LA
Wipe Hands on Pants, Brian Richardson, Lexington, VA
Semi-Finalists
A Charm of Finches, Christine Wade, Elka Park, NY
American Golem, Lou Dischler, Spartanburg, SC
Beldam of the Black Lake, Ben Cromwell, Marietta, OH
Bristlecone Falls, Joseph Rice, Columbia, SC
Burnt Pot Island, Karen Dove Barr, Savannah, GA
Castaway in Kingdom Come, Robert Hambling Davis, Newark, DE
Charles Claiborne: The Cost of Blood, Jace Johnson, New Orleans, LA
Eleanor Dare, Murdic Jones, Moncks Corner, SC
Falling, Cindy Willis, Burien, WA
For Love of Sugar, Bernard Smith, Mandeville, LA
Free Love, Mary Hutchings Reed, Chicago, IL
Ground Up, Paul-Michael Rayford, Conifer, CO
Homespun, Laura Strach, Yachats, OR
Human Enough, Keya Mitra, Portland, OR
In the Orange Grove, Rae Weiser, Woodland Hills, CA
Knowing Marjorie, Julie Weary,
Masks, Susan Scutti, Washington, DC
Notes for Making the Film: A Warrier’s Mercy, Jay M. Korn, San Rafael, CA
Pandaclia, Jonah Steinberg, Burlington, VT
Patriot Day: A Novel of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, Dana R. Dillon, Fairfax, VA
Peace River, Kathleen Tyler, Wilmington, NC
Rising Wind: Ice and Water, Diane Olsen, Kennewick, WA
Shockley Hollow, Jennifer Tomlinson, Fort Myers, FL
Surviving Uranus, Michael Wohl, Los Angeles, CA
The Air Between Our  Tubs, Justin Swingle, West Hollywood, CA
The Billionaire’s Daughter, Michael Aloysius O’Reilly, Chapel Hill, NC
The Doors to Santa Fe, Thomas Michael Townsend, Santa Fe, NM
The Iron Widow, Vitoria Rohner, Oak Park, IL
The Kitten, Laurie Jameson, Harrison, AR
The Letter, Austin Ken Kutscher, Flemington, NJ
The Night Audit, A’Dora Phillips, Haydenville, MA
Then We Ran Away, Brian Souza, Somerville, MA
The Puppeteer’s Daughters, Heather Newton, Asheville, NC
The Witchcraft Papers, Barbara Ann Byrne, Westport, CT
Travels in America Deserta, Robert Raven, Anchorage, AK
We Arrive Uninvited, Jen Knox, Reynoldsburg, OH

NON FICTION BOOK
Finalists:
Blaise Unstuck in Time, Nancy A. Dafoe, Homer, NY
In Faulkner’s Shadow, Lawrence Wells, Oxford, MS
Surrender, A Memoir of Nature, Nurture, and Love, Marylee MacDonald, Santa Rosa, CA
That I Do Not Lose You: One Man’s Family Roots, Richard Jespers, Lubbock, TX
The War Never Left Her, Marilyn Moriarty, Roanoke, VA
Trials of a Dead Lawyer’s Wife, Mary Kathleen McGuire, Tybee Island, GA
Semi-Finalists
Holding Onto Right Side Up, Pat Gallant, New York, NY
My Name is King Ying, Karin K. Jensen, Alameda, CA
Schizoaffected, Michael Robinson Morris, La Crescenta, CA
Strawman, Garry Wallace, Powell, WY

NOVELLA
Finalists
Colette and Cole, Tinker Babbs, Tesuque, NM
Fire and Ice, Janet Taylor-Perry, Ridgeland MS
First Year Experience, Amina Lolita Gautier, Chicago, IL
Incidentals, Matthew Minson, Spring, TX
Suffering the Little Children, Jean K. Dowdy, St. Augustine, FL
Semi-Finalists
Dust, and Desire, Ada Ardere, Kansas City, MI
Here We Are, Patricia Warren, Atlanta, GA
Katrina, Dark, Earl Higgins, River Ridge, LA
Show World/Chaotic Novel, Benjamin Heim Shepard, Brooklyn, NY
The Orchid Tree, Jan B. Parker, Beaufort, NC

SHORT STORY
Finalists
6424 Avenue Z, Emily Cogburn, Baton Rouge, LA
Appearances, Mike Tuohy, Jefferson, GA
A Piglet for David, Rachael Ikins, Baldwinsville, NY
Crash Test Dummies, Robert Hambling Davis, Newark, DE
Empty As A Broken Heart, R.L. “Pete” Peterson, Escondido, CA
Go Gently Into That Night, Mark J. Havlik, Huntersville, SC
Kailani KiloHertz, Daniel Oakley, New Orleans, LA
Neighbors, Rodney Nelsestuen, Woodbury, MN
Sakura, Lesley Hardy, Oxford, OH
Swim Lessons, Riley Moran, New Orleans, LA
Sybil in Despair, Lynn Ditchfield, Edgartown, MA
There Was a Time, Mark J. Havlik, Huntersville, SC
The Women in the Club, P. Jo Anne Burgh, Glastonbury, CT
There’s No Smoking in Middle City, Ashley Wolfe, New Orleans, LA
Uncle Edgar and the Tintinnabulation of the Bells, S.A. Slosberg, Bronxville, NY
Undertow, Maureen Welch, St. Augustine, FL
Waking Up to Yellow, Margaret Speck Ogawa, Mercer Island, WA
Whenever You’re Ready, Mimi Manyin, Brookline, MA
Semi-Finalists
Blithe’s Life, Zena McFadden, Sycamore, IL
Birthright, Barbara Ritchie, Vancouver, WA
Brother Abraham, Luke Strom, San Francisco, CA
Great-Aunt Silvia and the Virgin, Patricia Grace King, Durham, UK
Mel and Stel, Lesley Hardy, Oxford, OH
Mercredi’s, Patricia Warren, Atlanta, GA
Rage, Rodney Nelsestuen, Woodbury, MN
Sins of the Fathers, Lottie Brent Boggan, Jackson, MS
Sky Bridge, Patricia Warren, Atlanta, GA
Superboy and the Fox, Robert Hambling Davis, Newark, DE
The Bet, Nancy Antle, New Haven, CT
The Diary of Justine Winter, Barbara Ritchie, Vancouver, WA
The Hair Ball, Lottie Brent Boggan, Jackson, MS

NOVEL-IN-PROGRESS
Finalists
American Heroine, Katherine Lim, London, UK
Animals We Have Been, Melanie S. Krupa, Port Townsend, WA
Body Art Prison, Robert Hambling Davis, Newark, DE
Dancing on the Devil’s Backbone, Anita August, Mableton, GA
Dying for Beauty, Nancy Bruett, Manchester, MA
Hay-Yell, Harriet Johnson Brackey, New Orleans, LA
Here’s How I’ll Burn Down the World, Patricia Grace King, Durham, UK
Last Mutineer, R. Louis Fox, Beulah, MI
Perverse Tongues, Alysia Anderson, Folsom, LA
Riverboat, Laine Cunningham, Hillsborough, NC
Shelter, Susan Folkes, Richmond, VA
Show World/Chaotic Novel, Benjamin Heim Shepard, Brooklyn, NY
Sister Craig, Liza Nash Taylor, Keswick, VA
Solastalgia, Caleb Johnson, Banner Elk, NC
Sweet Camilla Island, Emily Cogburn, Baton Rouge, LA
The Baseball Widow, Suzanne Kamata, Tokushima-ken, Japan
The Fanciful Follies of Pistu Mundela, Nishith Singh, Novato, CA
The Houndsman, David Philip Mullins, Omaha, NE
The Interior Castle, Blake Sanz, Denver, CO
The Way to Stowe, A’Dora Phillips, Cincinnati, OH
The Writer and The Engineer, Niomi Rohn Philips, Park Rapids, MN
The Way to Stowe, A’Dora Phillips, Cincinnati, OH
Semi-Finalists
Cracks in the Divine and Other Tales of Falling From Grace, Jean Dowdy, St. Augustine, FL Ground Up, P. Michael Raford, Conifer, CO
First Make Made, Daniel Fitzpatrick, Hot Springs Village, AR
Hex Signs, Elizabeth Amon, Seattle, WA
I’ll Be Seeing You, Jaonne Kukanza Easley, Medina, TX
Innocence and Independence: Catharine Continued, Jeannette Cabanis, Cullowhee, NC
Nadine Begins, Again, Liz Esse Kahrs, Scituate, MA
No. 7 Bus, Mary J. Nestor, Hilton Head Island, SC
The Burns Boys, Lori Likis, Cambridge, MA
Nadine Begins, Again, Liz Esse Kahrs, Scituate, MA
The Last of the Light, Alexander Shalom Joseph, Rollinsville, CO
Target Practice, Minrose Gwin, Austin, TX
Truth and Other Lies, Elizabeth Broadbent, West Columbia, SC
Wildwind, Lauren Strach, Yachats, OR

ESSAY
Finalists
A Generation Apart, Karen Hempson, Skaneateles, NY
A Walk With My Son, Joe, Ridino, Turlock, CA
Courage, Pain and Medical Mystery, Nancy Dafoe, Homer, NY
Homeplace, Jeanette Cabanis, Cullowhee, NC
Me Without You, Pat Gallant, New York, NY
My Final Retail Therapy Session, Mary Rowen, Arlington, MA
My Unconscious Bias, Gary Wallace, Powell, WY
Single, Christina Poythress, Madison, TN
Shore’s Unknown, Vicki Siska, Fort Collins, CO
The Add On, Julie Klein, Des Moines, Iowa
The Army, Julie Klein, Des Moines, Iowa
Semi-Finalists
Robin’s Nest, Gary Wallace, Powell, WY
Looking For Lula, Rhonda Ray, Bethlehem, PA
Reality, A Field Guide, Christina, Poythress, Madison, TN
Semi-Finalists
Robin’s Nest, Gary Wallace, Powell, WY
Looking For Lula, Rhonda Ray, Bethlehem, PA
Reality, A Field Guide, Christina, Poythress, Madison, TN

POETRY COLLECTION
Finalists
Herstory, Gwynn O’Gara, Sebastopol, CA

INDIVIDUAL POEM
Finalists
A Covid-19 Love Letter, Lynn Ditchfield, Edgartown, MA
Allow Me to Introduce Myself, Pat Gallant, New York, NY
Becoming a Man, Donald Upton, Fayetteville, AR
Connection, Jennifer Tomlinson, Fort Myers, FL
For the Very First Time, Julie Chou, Beijing, China
Gift, Constance E. Boyle, Denver, CO
How Long is Never, Pat Gallant, New York, NY
Hurtling Towards Extinction, Pat Gallant, New York, NY
Insubstantial, Pavan Funk, Cumming, GA
Rebel Dodi Letter to a Daughter on Her 17^th, Benjamin Heim, Shepard, Brooklyn, NY
Resilient!, Constantina Ann Clark, Palatka, FL
Scars, Tina D. C. Hayes, Dixon, Kentucky
The Earth Stands Ready, Constantina Ann Clark, Palatka, FL
The Virtue of Tenacity, Kelly Anderson, Marrero, LA
this time of Covid-19, Constance E. Boyle, Denver, CO
To My Elder Brother Who’s Sitting Right Next to Me, Julie Chou, Beijing, China
When No One Was Looking, Constantina Ann Clark, Palatka, FL
Semi-Finalists
A Little Bit of Ever, Pat Gallant, New York, NY
A Prayer, Constantina Ann Clark, Palatka, FL
Bar Night, Pat Gallant, New York, NY
Becoming a Man, Donald Upton, Fayetteville, AR
Corona War Epiphany, Manfred Pollard, New Orleans, LA
Distract, Pat Gallant, New York, NY
Familiar Feeling, Holly W. Schwartztol, Cape Canaveral, FL
Forest Finder, Constantina Ann Clark, Palatka, FL
I Did, Pat Gallant, New York, NY
Impregnation, Constantina Ann Clark, Palatka, FL
Missing Grandchildren, Holly W. Schwartztol, Cape Canaveral, FL
Night Frights, Holly W. Schwartztol, Cape Canaveral, FL
Only I, Pat Gallant, New York, NY
On The Outside Looking In, Constantina Ann Clark, Palatka, FL
Parting of Ways, Constantina Ann Clark, Palatka FL
Sweet Little Child, Donald Upton, Fayetteville, AR
Tastes of My Childhood, Tina D.C. Hayes, Dixon, Kentucky
When Writing Was Out of the Question, Constantina Ann Clark, Palatka, FL

HIGH SCHOOL SHORT STORY
Finalists
A Thousand Sons, Lochlan Krupa, Port Townsend, WA
Last Chance, Sonia Mehta, Dublin, OH
Toppled, Sonia Mehta, Dublin, OH
Moss Grows on a Cell Wall, Scarlett Shepard, Brooklyn, NY
Our Days With Nicolette Jones, Maya Wandrei, Shoreview, MN
Potomu, Sonia Mehta, Dublin, OH