2020 WINNERS, RUNNERS-UP
NOVEL
The results for 2020 Novel Category are in from the final round judge for that category, legendary literary editor Cindy Speigel. Her selections are as follows:
Winner:
Greetings from Asbury Park by Daniel Turtel of New York, NY
Runners-up:
Hang Me the Moon By Kate Bullard Adams of Durham, NC
Maddie Duell By Moira Crone of New Orleans, LA
Others on the Short List:
Ghosts of Charleston By Donald Upton of Fayetteville, AR
Skylark by William Christy Smith of New Orleans, LA
Suppose I Say Hummingbird, Beth Ann Fennelly of Oxford, MS
The Space Between By Liz Bedell of Northampton, MA
NON-FICTION BOOK
The results for the 2020 Non-Fiction Book Category are in from final round judge for this category, Jeff Kleinman of the Folio Literary Agency. His selections are:
Winner:
My Beautiful Tigers
By Rosemary Daniell of Savannah, GA
Runner-Up:
The Movie Star, an Alzheimer’s Patient, and the Easter Ham Between Them
By Laura Grooms of Columbia, SC
Honorable Mention:
Voices of the City: Interviews with New Orleans Artists
By Poet Wolfe of New Orleans, LA
Others on the Short List:
My Name is King Ying
By Karin K. Jensen of Alameda, CA
NOVELLA
The results of the 2020 Novella Category are in from the final round judge, acclaimed fiction writer and visual artist Moira Crone:
Here selections are:
Winner:
Boom by Lawrence Coates of Bowling Green, OH
Runners Up:
The Be Everything, Brothers
by Matthew Pitt of Fort Worth, TX
The Incredible Story of Nemaw Betty and the Bandit Aloysius
by Ashley Wolfe of New Orleans, LA
Others on the Short List
A Brooklyn Tale By David Anderson of Boerne, TX
First Year Experience By Amina Gautier of Chicago, IL
Her Cumberland by Susan Paisley of Cedar Hill, TN
The Choice By Michael Tusa of Abita Springs, LA
When Our Heroes Were Young By Phillip Erickson of St. Paul, MN
SHORT STORY
The Short List for the 2020 Short Story Category has been selected and manuscripts have been sent to fiction writer, poet, professor of literature, and translator John Biguenet.
The Short List selections are:
Winner:
Quarantine In Kikwit
By Michael Janis of Mableton, GA
Runner-up:
Gravity
By Daniel Turtel, New York, NY
Others on Short List
Becky’s Friend By Donald Upton of Fayetteville, AR
First Prayer By Bruce Wexler of Elmhurst, IL
Jessica Collector By David Anderson of Boerne, TX
Joe in Exile By William Christy Smith of New Orleans, LA
Moira by Lee Ali of New Orleans, LA
Neighbors By Rodney Nelsestuen of Woodbury, MN
The Daughter Badge By Jane Shirley of Marietta, GA
The Devil’s Den By Ashley Wolfe of New Orleans, LA
The Floating Ladies of Gramercy Park by Jane Kahramanidis of New Orleans, LA
The Sound of Wild Animals in the Night, By Douglas McBride, Los Angeles, CA
Tower By Andy Plattner of Atlanta, GA
NOVEL IN PROGRESS
The results of the Novel-in-Progress category are in from the final round judge, novelist Laura Lane McNeal. Her selections are
Winner:
A Thundering Laugh
By Andrew Cominelli of New Orleans
Runner-up:
The Kitchen Door
By Anita Rozas of Baton Rouge, LA
Others on the Short List
A Bright American Future for the Dead By Douglas McBride of Los Angeles, CA
A Lily in the Dark by Sara Henry Paolozzi of Brooklyn, NY
And Yet It Moves By Matthew Minson of Tomball, TX
Aristotle’s Wall By Matthew Minson of Tomball, TX
A Routine End of the World By Scott Craven of Tempe. AZ
Body Art Prison by Robert Hambling Davis of Newark, DE
The Syrian Pieta By Timothy Jay Smith of Paris, France
The Trouble You Do Not Name By Mant Bares of Abbeyville, LA
ESSAY
The Short List for the Essay Category has been selected and the manuscripts have been forwarded to final round judge Shari Stauch, literary publicist and marketing expert, bookstore owner. Her selections are:
Winner
64 Inches
By Laura Joyce-Hubbard of Highland Park, IL
Runner-up
White Dress
By Christine Poythress of Madison, TN
Others on the Short list
A Sensible Sacrifice By C. W. Cannon of New Orleans, LA
Glass Houses By Laura Brodie, Lexington, VA
Ritual in the Time of COVID By Zena McFadden of Sycamore, IL
The New AI Consciousness: Active Inference in the Free Energy Principle, a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Exploring Sonnet Poetics By Manfred Pollard of New Orleans, LA
Touching Earth By Janine DeBaise of Kirkville, NY
POETRY COLLECTION
The results are in from the final round judge of the Poetry Collection category Rosemary Daniell, founder of the famed Zona Rosa writing workshop. She won this category in its initial year, 2019.Her selections are:
Winner:
Scenes From a Rain Country
By Chad Foret of Covington, LA
Runner-up
Pre-owned Odyssey and Rented Rooms
By Rhu Lawrence of Columbia, SC
Others on the Short List
Poetry Land
By Mark Spitzer of Mayflower, AR
SINGLE POEM
The Short List selections for the Single Poem category have been made and the manuscripts have been forwarded to the final round judge, bestselling non-fiction author, poet, and essayist, Rodger Kamenetz. The selections are:
Winner
Caught In COVID
By Maureen Welch of St. Augustine, FL
Runner-up
In Your Embrace of the Clay
By Constantina Ann Clark of Palatka, FL
Others on the Short List
A Voice by Tom Hill of New Orleans, LA
Breakdown By Tina D.C. Hayes of Dixon, KY
Call to the Medium By Holly Schwarztol of Cape Canaveral, FL
Celestial By Petra Perkins of Highlands Ranch, CO
Connection By Jennifer Tomlinson of Fort Meryers, FL
For Leonard By Christine Poythress of Madison, TN
He Held Hearts in His Hand By Melissa Bonin, Lafayette, LA
Hunched Over Notre Dame By Manfred Pollard of New Orleans, LA
I Grow Stories About You By Louise Freymann of New York, NY
Insomnia By S. T. Eleu of Tallahassee, FL
Ivory Birds By Andrea Dubé of New Orleans, LA
Like Bargains in the Night By Donald Upton of Fayetteville, AR
Take You In By Kimbol Soques of Austin, TX
SHORT STORY BY A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT
The results of the High School Short Story Category are in from final round judge, novelist George Bishop, Jr. His Selections are:
Winner:
Trinkets for the Dead
By Sidne K. Gard of New Orleans, LA
Runner-up:
A Mouthful of Bloody Teeth
By Deja Robinson of New Orleans, LA
Others on the Short List
Father’s Joy By Julie Chou of Beijing, China
Hourglass By Meredith DeLong of New Orleans, LA
Stalling By Sonia Mehta of Dublin, OH