The Wisdom of Water by Laura Lane McNeal of New Orleans, LA
Laura Lane McNeal is the bestselling author of Dollbaby, a coming-of-age
novel full of Southern eccentricity and secrets that brings to life the charm and unrest of 1960’s New Orleans. She’s recently completed two additional historical fiction novels, one set in Louisiana during The Great Flood of 1927, the other based on a lost Scottish legend. She lives in New Orleans, where she was born and raised.. Runner-up:
Why Paris? by Yara Zgheib of Ain Aar, Metn, Lebannon, and Paris, France
Yara Zgheib is a novelist and poet born in Beirut and currently living in Paris, with her heart in both places. She writes about war, displacement, and beauty as an absolute necessity. She requently quotes Wislawa Szymborska, as summing up her feelings:
I prefer the absurdity of writing poems to the absurdity of not writing poems.
Others on the Short List:
Amateurs, Andrew Cominelli, New Orleans, LA
Jackson, George Bishop, Jr., New Orleans, LA
Lifeswork, Claudia H. Hoffman, Madison Heights, MI
Not Done Yet, Kathleen George, Pittsburgh, PA
Sea of Beauty, Barbara Burgess, Chicago, IL
Talking in Layers, S. A. Slosberg, New Rochelle, NY
The Darkening, Yoruba Baltrip, New Orleans, LA
Non-Fiction Book
Selected by New York Literary Agent Jeff Kleinman:
Winner
The Scandalous Mr. Johnson by Charlotte Hays, Washington, DC
Charlotte Hays is co-author of Being Dead Is No Excuse: The Official Southern Ladies Guide to Hosting the Perfect Funeral and Somebody Is Going to Die If Lilly Beth Doesn’t Catch that Bouquet: The Official Southern Ladies’ Guide to Hosting the Perfect Wedding. She has been a gossip columnist for the New York Daily News, The New York Observer, and The Washington Times; senior editor at the Independent Women’s Forum, and editor of In Character magazine, published by the Templeton Foundation. She is an alumna of the legendary New Orleans alternative newspapers, the Vieux Carre Courier and Figaro. A native of Greenville, MS. Charlotte lives in Washington, D.C. Mermaid in the Window by Elaine Stevens of Biloxi, MS
Elaine Stevens—an
award-winning writer, producer, broadcast veteran, documentarian, public relations professional, and South Mississippi social justice advocate—was the anchor of the first all-female news team in the nation with Robin Roberts at ABC affiliate WLOX-TV, Biloxi, MS. Elaine is writer/producer of the highly acclaimed documentary Joys & Blues of East Biloxi Main Street: 1950-1970 which was screened at the Oxford Film Festival February 27, 2026. She was the ghost writer for two biographies in San Diego, CA, and has written for Southern Writers, Gulf Coast Woman, Play the Coast, See South Mississippi, Mississippi magazine, and Dreamers magazine. Elaine has been shortlisted for various manuscripts in the William Faulkner – William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition and is the winner of the Mary Helen Washington Literary Award for her essay titled Cookies for Breakfast.Others on the Short List:
Dear Ignatius, Dear Blanche: Letters to My Favorite Ghosts, C. W. Cannon, New Orleans, LA
I Saved Lives, Philip Levin, Biloxi, MS
Race, Southern Resistance, and the Expansion of The Federal Government, Michael T. Tusa, Abita Springs, LA
The Frogless Dark, Russell Working, Oak Park, IL
Wounded Songbirds, Barry Fitzsimmons, Rowawayton, CT
Complete Collection
Selected by a judge who wishes to remain Anonymous:
Winner
What Cannot Be Undone by David Martin Anderson of Boerne, TX
David Martin Anderson is a Texas Hill Country author, a late bloomer who 
began his writing career in his early-50s and became the oldest applicant ever accepted into the University of Iowa’s esteemed writing program at the age of 73. Since 2023, his stories and essays have been published in over two dozen literary magazines (McNeese Review, Tulane Review, Rappahannock Review, New Limestone Review, etc.); he has won the Sunspot Solstice Award for short fiction, was a 2026 Pushcart nominee, and has been a multiple shortlisted finalist for the Bridport Prize, Hemingway Short Fiction Contest, Iron Horse Review, Lascaux Review, and Faulkner-Wisdom contests. He resides on his small ranch with his wife, Mary, on the banks of the Guadalupe River.
Runner-up
Whispers on Hudson by S. A. Slosberg New Rochelle, NY
S.A. Slosberg is a fiction writer whose work has been recognized by The Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society in previous years of the Faulkner-Wisdom Competition. Her story, “Uncle Edgar and the Tintinnabulation of the Bells” was a Short Fiction Runner-Up and is part of her current collection, Whispers on Hudson. She has been working with the author/editors at The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College in New York.
Others on the Short List
Apéro, European Stories, T. D. Arkenberg, Arlington Heights, IL
The Dance at St. Theresa’s, Kathleen George, Pittsburg, PA
The Exterminator’s Daughter, Fran Schumer, Oak Bluffs, MA
Unusual Poisons, Matthew Pitt, Fort Worth, TX
Selected by Prize-winning short fiction author Annell Lopez:
Winner
What the River Took by David Martin Anderson of Boerne, TX
above for David’s bio and photo!
Runner-up
Some Things Don’t Change by Alexander Shalom Joseph, Boulder, CO
animist and nature focused author of seven published books spanning poetry and fiction. He teaches writing in universities, libraries, museums, hiking trails, schools and prisons across the Colorado Front Range. Alexander’s writing has been a finalist, short-listed or runner-up in various categories of the Faulkner-Wisdom Competition a dozen times in the last five years. He is excited to submit work again in the 2026-2027 competitionOthers on the Short List:
Oak Park, IL
Confessions from a Close Encounter, Petra Perkins, Highlands Ranch, CO
da-Dum, Robin Luce Martin, New York, NY
Erased, Stan Kempton, New Orleans, LA
Heat, Mathew Minson, Las Vegas, NV
Misadventures, David Kennedy, Bronx, NY
Stockholm, David Galef, Montclair, NJ
Symphony #40 in the Publix Parking Lot, Patricia Warren, Sandy Springs, GA
The Croquet Stick, Rosemary Daniell, Savannah, GA
What a Day to Play Hooky, Benjamin Duffy, Montgomery, AL
Book-in-Progress
Selected by a duo of judges working together—marketing consultant and interior designer Kathleen Waring and Jamie Harpootlian, attorney, former U. S. Ambassador to Slovenia, and experienced non-fiction writer:
Winner
Boom by Lawrence Coates of Port Angeles, WA
Lawrence William Coates grew up in El Cerrito, CA, spent four years as a Quartermaster in the Coast Guard, four more years in the Merchant Marine, sailing in the North Atlantic, the Pacific Ocean, and the Indian Ocean and in 
the Arabian Sea during the Iranian Hostage Crisis. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz and gained fluency in Spanish while studying abroad in Barcelona. He worked briefly as a freelance journalist, placing a cover story about the U.S.-Mexican border in the Sunday supplement of The Chicago Tribune. After receiving his master’s degree at Berkeley, he taught in the Lycée Charlemagne in Paris before earning his doctorate at the University of Utah. His published novels include: The Blossom Festival, which won the Western States Book Award for Fiction and was selected for the Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Series; The Master of Monterey; The Garden of the World, winner of the Nancy Dasher Award from the College English Association of Ohio; The Goodbye House; and a novella, Camp Olvido. His work has been recognized with the Donald Barthelme Prize in Short Prose, the Miami University Press Novella Prize, an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction. For all of his literary life, he has been a fan of and a scholar in the work of Nobel Laureate William Faulkner. He recently retired as professor of creative writing at Bowling Green State University and now lives in Port Angeles, WA.
Runner-Up
Dolly Mamma by Cassandra Delaney of New Orleans, La
Cassandra Delaney is originally from upstate New York. She lives in
New Orleans, celebrating one decade in the city this year. Her work has appeared in Barely South, Blood & Bourbon, and RENEWED: New Orleans Public Library Anthology. In 2025, she was a Gold Medal winner in the individual poem category of the William Faulkner – William Wisdom Writing Competition. She writes poetry, hopepunk, and New Orleans urban fantasy.
Others on the Short List
Adverse Possession, Kate Bullard Adams of Durham, NC
A.L.E.X., Jay Gauldoni, Naples, FL
A Mortal Sin, Michael Ditchfield, Martha’s Vineyard, MA
Ancient Fires Blazing Away, David Kennedy, Bronx, NY
Antikles, Timothy Jay Smith, Nice, France
Baby, He’s a Wolf, Russell Working,
Egret, Marguerite Sheffer, New Orleans, LA
Long Hot Summers, Barnes Carr, Houston, TX
Root, Stacey Balkun, New Orleans, LA
The Radical, Addison Griffis, Philadelphia, MS
There is a House, Dave Barnette, Fairhope, A
Selected by Journalist and Publisher Jack Davis:
Winner
The Backward Book By Rodger Kamenetz of New Orleans, LA
Rodger Kamenetz is a poet, author, LSU Professor Emeritus of English and Religious Studies, and founder of Natural Dreamwork. His most recent books of
poetry are Yonder (Lavender Ink), Dream Logic (PURH) and The Missing Jew: Poems 1976-2022. His poems have appeared in Southern Review, New Republic, Grand Street, Shenandoah, Mississippi Review and in dozens of anthologies. His most recent book is Seeing into the Life of Things which won the 2026 Nautilus Book Awards Gold Medal for Spirituality of Western Thought. He is well known, too, for his book, The Jew in the Lotus, which detailed an interview with the Dalai Lama and how this helped him reconnect with the Jewish faith, and The History of Last Night’s Dream. He is married to prize winning fiction writer, Moira Crone, one of the founders of LSU’s MFA program, which she directed until her retirement. They live in New Orleans.Runner-up
Angels Landing By Petra Perkins of Highlands Ranch, CO
Petra Perkins is an author of essays, memoirs, poetry, fiction, and interviews. She is a past winner of the Faulkner-Wisdom Poetry gold medal and has won
first place in both Essay and Fiction in the Colorado Authors League contest. Petra currently is performing her essays in the Listen to Your Mother stage plays. She has published three books and been a judge in the NASA essay contests for kids. To read about her work, see petrapetra.com.Others on the Short List
I Remember, Fran Schumer, Oak Bluffs, MA
Rammed in the Rear, Janet Taylor-Perry, Ridgeland, MS
Trust Love, Barbara Y. Phillips, Oxford, MS
Wait Till The Black, Elaine Stevens, Biloxi, MS
What Is Was Not, David Martin Anderson, Boerne, TX
Poetry Collection
Poems for Bystanders, Benjamin Aleshire of Cuttingsville, VT
Benjamin Aleshire was born and raised in Rutland County, VT. For some years
he made his living by writing poems for strangers on a manual typewriter in the streets of New Orleans, Paris, Havana, and San Francisco. His writing has been published in The Times of London, Iowa Review, Southern Review, and an excerpt of his novel in progress Poet for Hire was featured at Lit Hub. A first-gen student, Ben is the recipient of a James Merrill fellowship from the VT Studio Center, a Bread Loaf waiter-scholarship, a Creation Grant from the VT Arts Council, and a Goldwater Fellowship from NYU. His debut full-length collection Poems for Bystanders was a finalist for prizes from Sarabande, Alice James, FourWay Books, and others. Currently he serves as Creative Director at Aleshire Gallery, a photography cooperative in Brandon, VT. Runner-up
Phoenix by Cassandra Delaney of New Orleans, LA
And the talented Ms. Delaney is winner of two 2026 silver medals for
Book-in-Progress and for Poetry Collection. Scroll up to Book-in-Progress for
Cassandra’s bio and photo.
Others on the Short List
In Praise, Alexander Shalom Joseph, Boulder, CO
Ode to My Yo-Yo, Holly Hunt, Hot Springs, AR
Passages from Bucksnort to Bhagu, Christine Poythress, Madison, TN.
Individual Poem
Selected by Louisiana Poet Laureate Gina Ferrera:
Winner
The Golden Raintree by Rodger Kamenetz of New Orleans, LA
Runner Up
This is the Life By Rodger Kamenetz of New Orleans, LA
Yes, this highly accomplished literary artist won two 2026 gold medals and a silver medal for Essay and Individual poem. Scroll up to Essay for his bio and photo.
Others on the Short List
In Praise of Typos, Alexander Shalom Joseph, Boulder, CO
Refrain, Patrick Reardon, Chicago, IL
Searching for Shirly Ann Grau at Galatoire’s, Margaret Gilbert, New York, NY
Sista’s Blues, Yoruba Baltrip, New Orleans, LA
Spectrum, S. T. Eleu, Westmont, IL
The Reference Room, Fran Schumer, Oak Bluffs, MA
Selected by a Judge who wishes to remain Anonymous:
Winner
The Jellyfish Splits Next to a Relic of a Bygone Dominant Species by
Nicholas Lavender, New Orleans, LA and Boston, MA
| Nicholas Lavender is a New Orleans author who was graduated from New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, earlier this year. Nicholas is fond of obscure allegory and a combination of positive and negative reinforcement. Since graduating from NOCCA, Nick has gone off to college, enrolled at Emerson College in Boston, MA. He is the son of authors Bill Lavender and Nancy Dixon of New Orleans. |
|
Runner-up
Snake Bites by Maryanne Middleton, Marlborough, UK
To date, Miss Middleton has not submitted a bio or photo
We hope to see all of you in New Orleans for Faulkner for All, 2026.
If you are planning to come and wish to have your manuscripts critiqued
by professional literary agents and editors, you must get your material for
critique in this coming week, not later. Review the critique guidelines prior
to submitting. Review Critique guidelines HERE!