The Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society is pleased to announce the short lists, other finalists, and semifinalists for the nine categories of the 2024-2025 competition. Our hundreds of entries came from 37 states and nine foreign countries (UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada, Indonesia, China, Israel, France, and Spain,)
BOOKS OF FICTION
Shortlist
Amateurs
Druid Heights
God Laughs
It was Never About the Garden
Not the Same River
Old Scores
Puzzled Hearts
The Americanist
Other Finalists
Absolutely Stupid, Murdic H. Jones, Monks Corner, SC
A Death in the Sun, Ryan Starrett, Madison, MS
A Narrow Slice of Daylight, Scott Archer Jones, Angel Fire, NM
A Prayer for the Wicked, Dawn Wilson, Brenham, TX
Audio Guide, William Christy Smith, New Orleans, LA
Birdie’s Books, Michael Warner, Kirkwood, MO
Cats Kill, John Malone, Waco, TX
CIA Sixth Grade, Taylor Lucio, Northglenn, CO
Debris, Toby LeBlanc, Austin, TX
Ella, Lawrence Wells, Oxford, MS
Fracturing, George Geier, Castle Rock, CO
How They Broke Us, Paul Dorrell, Kansas City, MO
Lazarus, Incorporated, Stan Kempton, New Orleans, LA
Mr. Inside Washington, Benjamin Duffy, Montgomery, AL
Numb and Fun and Petty, Theft, Alexander S. Joseph, Boulder, CO
Orphans of God, John DeBon, Malverne, NY
Searching for Simon, Robert Steeg, New Orleans, Louisiana
Shanghai Legacy, Dominick Venezia, Shoreline, WA
Star Chamber, Jeff Schnader, Atlanta, GA
Thanatology, Jonathan Hale Rosen, Burlington, CT
The Best Offense, Julie Ann Candoli, Austin, TX
The Buccaneers’ King, David Levene, London, UK
The Conduit Files, Andrey Medina, Mevaseret-Zion, Israel
The Elephant Box, Russell Working, Oak Park, IL
The Fabricator, Andrew Milward, Lexington, KY
The Forever Fields, George Gier, Castle Rock, CO
The Girl Who Knew, Curt Klinghoffer, Pooler, GA
The Librairian, Justin Swingle, West Hollywood, CA
The Off Season, Megan Baxter, Springfield, NH
The Pevensie Codicil, Erica Obey, Woodstock, NY
The Price of Ash, Richard Banks Gustaphson, Dallas, TX
What’s It All About?, Carolyn McGrath, Charlottesville, VA
When the Whirly-Girly’s Done, Louis Dischler, Spartanburg, SC
Wilson’s Way, Sean W. Murphy, Ranchos de Taos, NM
Women of a Certain Rage, S. A. Slosberg, New Rochelle, NY
Semi-Finalists
A Human Science, Grace Tiffany, Kalamazoo, MI
After June, Eileen Cronin, Sherman Oaks, CA
A Murmuration of Souls, Dennis Goldin, Edgartown, MA
Atlas Falls to Earth, Ashley Christopher Leach, Astoria, NY
Bequeathal: Lives Changed by Things, Martha Voutas Donegan, Metairie, LA
Biography of the Sea, Sheila Myers, Skaneateles, NY
Blessed Are, Darlin Neal, Brookhaven, MS
Blind Rat, Micael Nikitin, Olivebridge, NY
Bristlecone Falls, Joseph S. Rice, Jr., Columbia, SC
Book of Clay, Craig Miles Miller, Tampa, FL
Charon’s Manifest, Dennis Goldin, Edgartown, MA
Dead Things I Gave Birth To, Michelle Brady, Gaithersburg, MD
Down at the Balinese, Matthew Minson, Folsom, CA
Fairest, Elizabeth Feeney, Philadelphia, PA
Forewarned, Tracey Phillips, Verona, WI
Forgnen, Bruce J. Berger, Silver Spring, MD
If You Live, Your Day Will Come, Darlin Neal, Brookhaven, MS
It Was Always the X, Josh Edelstein, Scottsdale, AZ
Letters to Trout Fishing in America, Matthew Smythe, Naples, NY”
Little, Julia Tagliere, Silver Spring, Md
More Than Yesterday, Less Than Tomorrow, Justin Swingle,
West Hollywood, CA
Myths of the Reconstruction, Sena Maddison, Pensacola, FL
Never, Ever, Always, Julie Weary, Vero Beach, FL
Night’s a Shadder, Day’s Shine, Karen Dove Barr, Savannah, GA
Nobody’s Born Knowing, Caitlin McLean, Woodland, CA
Pay Dirt, Anthony DeLorenza, Wellington, FL
Raylene’s Song, Mary Alice Higgs, Roxie, MS
Rage Into the Light of a Brilliant Sun, Siobhan Sullivan, Wray, CO
Shanghai Diary, Carmen Contreras, Redondo Beach, CA
Spitting the Seeds of Time: Diaries of the Disillusioned,
Alex Sellers, Marietta, GA
Stories for Raging Heathens, David Martin Anderson, Boerne, TX
The Ambrosia Salad War, Georgia Ragsdale, Edmonds, WA
The Lies of Martin Ort, Claudia Hoffman, Madison Heights, MI
The Bruegelian Wall, Steven Kash, Terre Haute, IN
The Magnolia Plantation, Philip Levin, Biloxi, MS
The Newcomers’ Club, Julia Halprin Jackson, San Jose, CA
The Red Corner, Russell Working, Oak Park, IL
The Woman Who Talked After Death, Nancy Dafoe, Homer, NY
Two Minds More, Jenny Benjamin, Milwaukee, WI
Where the Wind Forgives, David Martin Anderson, Boerne, TX
White Flame, Cam Terwilliger, Beacon, NY
Yellow September, Shannon Wiley, Shreveport, LA
Note: An additional 96 entries were judged not ready for publication.
NON-FICTION BOOKS
Short List
Angel Buddies
Broken Ornaments
Confessions
Ghost Light
Have You Ever Been to the Badlands
Underwood
Other Finalists
I From Darkness: A Memoir, Alexandra Burt, Harber Heights, TX
Memorial: Our Last Year on the Links, Nita Sweeney, Dublin, OH
Wonder Junkie, Steve Kash, Terre Haute, IN
My Papouli andd His Irena, Reni Bumpas, Ridgeland, MS
Running Back to Happy, Barbara Donnelly Lane, Knoxville, TN
Note: An additional 42 entries were judged not ready for publication.
NOVELLAS
Short List
Club Paradise
Death of the Father
Incident at Lathrop Station
Mickey & Me
Sailing with Angels, a Novella in verse for Children
The Man Who Saved Horses, a Novella in stories.
The Beast Hunter
Spent Splendor
Other Finalists
Breeding in Stockholm, Stan Kempton, New Orleans, LA
Lion’s of the Mind, Julia Rold, Boston, MA
Oil & Water, Janet Taylor-Perry, Ridgeland, MS
The Plastic Eaters, D. K. McCutchen, Shelburne Falls, MA
White Man’s Way, Philip Levin, M.D., Biloxi, MS
Note: An additional 39 entries were judged not ready for publication.
SHORT STORIES
Short List
A Fish Without Bicycle
A Fliver in a Junkyard
A Meaness in the World
Asphalt & Fables
Fate, God, or Something
Handler’s Filly
Honey Cake
Hot Damn
Kick the Can
Leave Yourself Behind
On the Rim
Pieces of Eight
Savior in a Bottle
Secret Spot
Standing There Like Vladimir
Through the Winter
Who’s Theo Lange
Other Finalists
A Seller of Goods, A Seeker of the Divine, Bruce Wexler, Elmhurst, IL
Compassion, David Martin Anderson, Bourne, TX
Crows on the Eldorado, Jack Stillwaggon, Hamilton, NY
Freedom Ride, Mark Berry, Charleston, SC
Hamburger, S. L. Wallach, Columbia, SC
Islanders, Kyle Francis Williams, Brooklyn, NY
Lay This Body Down, Shelbi Fowler, Josper, GA
Monsieur Albert Camus, Rosemary Daniell, Savannah, GA
Murder Taco, Julie Ann Candoli, Austin, TX
Personal Record, Benjamin Morrison, New Orleans, LA
Subject to It, Janet Ford, Taylorsville, NC
The Double Doodle Mantra, S. A. Slosberg, New Rochelle, NY
The Man, Tom Franklin, Oxford, MS
The Musing, Megan Baxter, Megan Baxter, Springfield, NH
The Porter, Pat Gallant Weich, New York, NY
Uncle Edgar and the Tintinnabulation of the Bells, S. A. Slosberg,
New Rochelle, NY
Vertigo, Russell Working, Oak Park, IL
Semi-finalists
Eyes in the Back of Her Head, Carolann Malley, Granby, MA
Gold Fringe and Classy Tassels, S. A. Slosberg, New Rochelle, NY
Iron Lung – Steel Heart, Lottie Boggan, Jackson, MS
Lessons in Dirt, David Martin Anderson, Bourne, TX
Peacekeeping, Melanie Raskin, Chapel Hill, NC
Promised Land, Jean Dowdy, St. Augustine, FL
Subject to It, Janet Ford, Taylorsville, NC
The Accident, Barbara Donnelly Lane, Knoxville, TN
Note: There were an additional 62 entries which were judged not ready for publication.
BOOKS IN PROGRESS
Short List
The Burdens
Catch and Release
Cats Kill
Conversations in the Dark
Hurricanes and Other Stories
Invisible Illnesses
Mad Son
Mermaid in the Window
Piety & Desire
Rent a Fairy
The Jezebel Tracks
The Order of Ordinaries
To Be Awake and Free
The Pimento Cheese Incident
Trad
WRIP’s Voice of the Night
Other Finalists
Blue Helmets, Richard Banks, Dallas, TX
Crossed Paths in Paris, Marilyn Moriarty, Roanoke, VA
Hurricanes and Other Stories, Lyn Sandin DiIorie, New York, NY
Indian Springs, Marion Barnwell, Jackson, MS
Leave Yourself Behind, Katherine Lazarus, Burlington, VT
Naked Inside, Mary Eaddy, Daniel Island, SC
Skeleton at the Feast, Saatchi Kalsi, London, UK
Stuck in Stowe, Matthew Minson, Folson, CA
Tenant at Will, Mary Rowen, Arlington, MA
The Accidental Life of D. S. Sibley, Liz Esse Kahrs, Scituate, MA
The Big Smoke, Kathleen George, Pittsburg, PA
The Dimensions of a Curse, Susan Sparrow, New Orleans, LA
The Serpent & The Wheel, Megan Baxter, Springfield, NH
Thin Country of the Brown Dog, Stan Kempton, New Orleans, LA
Wishing Glass, Nancy Brock, Columbia, SC
Semi-Finalists
Michelle, Leslie Hardy, Oxford, OH
Rooster is Somewhere Else, Siobahn Sullivan, Wray, CO
Shirley, Victorious, David Yale, Bayside, NY
Spitting the Seeds, Alex Sellers, Marietta. GA
Sugaring Off, Magaret Barbour Guilbert, New York, NY
The Lost Children of Valen, Cassandra Delaney, New Orleans, LA
The Waiting Room, Carrie Knowles, Oberlin, OH
Troubled Water, Kim Kronzer O’Brien, Austin, TX
Note: An additional 57 entries were judged not ready for publication.
ESSAYS
Short List
2020
670 Million Breaths
Butterfly
Clean Language
Dear Viewer of My Naked Body
I Feel Bad All Over
Kissin’ Kin
Practice Run
Prescription for Solace in a Museum
The Electrician
The Game I Gave Up
The Package
The Trickle of Youth
Widow
Other Finalists
Adult Education, Mary Eaddy, Daniel Island, SC
Bloom Wherever You Are, Mary Alice Higgins, Roxie, MS
Esperanza, Lottie Bren Boggan, Jackson, MS.
I Write Stuff, Garry Wallace, Powell, WY
Le Menu, Christine Poythress, Madison, TN
Love is Blind, Christine Poythress, Madison, TN
New Baby on the Changing Table, Pat Gallant Weich, New York, NY
Pressure Cooker, Lynn Ditchfield, Edgarton, MA
The Goodbye Box, David Martin Anderson, Boerne, TX
Things Not Buried, David Martin Anderson, Boerne, TX
Urban Sprawl, Thuy Bui, Baton Rouge, LA
Semi-Finalists
Invisible, Pat Gallant Weich, New York, NY
I Will Shine, Mary Alice Higgins, Roxie, MS
The Us of Us, Pat Gallant Weich, New York, NY
Note: An additional 29 entries were judged as not ready for publication.
POETRY COLLECTIONS
Short List
Canebrake
Carousel Gardens: Poetry for Children from the Heart
Faulkner’s Bedroom
Lodestar
Poems for Bystanders
Poems from Riffs on My Mother
Other Finalists
Bucksnort to Bhagu, Christine Poythress, Madison, TN
Drums, Guitars, Blues, and Ghosts, Linda-Raven Woods,
Huntsville, AL
Memories Lounge, Ujjvala Bagal Rahn, Savannah, GA
Navigation, Duane DeRaad, El Prada, NM
Spitting the Seeds of Time, Alex Sellers, Marietta, GA
This Blue World, Jenny Benjamin, Milwaukee, WI
Note: An additional 43 entries were judged not ready for publication.
INDIVIDUAL POEM
Short List
A Chronology of Loss
A Tangle It Is
Existential Mouse
In the Course of Doing Laundry
At Izmailovo in Winter
Izzy’s Beans
Music from the Hearts of Space
My Name is Arthur
Nothing New Here
Pronounce Your Words
Rain, Check Please
Sailing With Angels
Solstice
The Two Halves of Anne
Where in Time is What We Had
Wild Horses
Other Finalists
Corner of My Heart, , Holly W. Schwartztol, Cape Canaveral, FL
Death, Duane DeRaad, El Prado, NM
Elegy for Mary, Liza Porter, Tucson, AZ
Geneology, Tina D. C. Hayes, Dixon, KY
Gone, Pat Gallant Weich, New York, NY
Icarus, Thuy Bui, Baton Rouge, LA
Life’s Quandry, Nancy Keats Benson, Yorktown Heights, NY
Scattered Ashes, Jack Stillwagon, Hamilton, NY
She is in the Kitchen, Pat Gallant Weich, New York, NY
The ICE Capades, Lynn Ditchfield, Edgartown, MA
The Manner of Thy Going, Maureen Welch, St. Augustine, FL
Waking at Near Ninety, Dreaming of a Much Younger Lover,
Rosemary Daniell, Savannah, GA
Semi-Finalists
Aunt Mary Nelle, Margaret Barbour Guilbert, New York, NY
Briefcases, Pat Gallant Weich, New York, NY
Dashing Through the Snow, Pat Gallant Weich, New York, NY
I Was a Rose, Once Upon a Time, Mary Alice Higgs, Royie, MS
Loved One Losing Memory, Holly W. Schwartztol, Cape Canaveral, FL
Memory Lingers, , Holly W. Schwartztol, Cape Canaveral, FL
Phantom Corals, A Warning, Nancy Dafoe, Homer, NY
Note: An Additional 36 entries were judged not ready for publication.
SHORT STORY BY A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT
Winner:
Treeline
By Yossi Rosen of McLean, VA
Runners-Up:
It is a tie! The Runners-up are:
The Jellyfish Spits Next to a Relic of a Bygone Dominant Species
By Nick Lavender, New Orleans, Louisana
You Know That Plate-Spinning Trick?
By Aha Hawkins, Gretna, Louisiana
Both are students at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts
Information about the judge, fiction writer George Bishop, Jr. and his comments about the winners will be posted soon.
Short List
A Rumination on Space and the Ocean,
Thuy Bui, Baton Rouge, LA
Requiem
Nina Muñoz, Marrero, LA
Snake in the Desert
Magdalena Acuño, New Orleans, LA
Treeline
Yossi Rosen, McLean, VA
Other Finalists
Lanes and Avenues, Lucy Riley, New Orleans, LA
My Angel by the Lake, Zion Dawson, New Orleans, LA
The Mirage, Roo Singleton, New Orleans, LA
Note: An additional 25 entries were judged not ready for publication.