2004 Faulkner Wisdom Competition Winners

Novel: Judged by Andre Bernard

FIRST RUNNER-UP: A Lifetime Burning by A. G. Harmon, Washington, DC.

FINALISTS:
Fire on Mount Maggiore by John Parras of New Milford, NJ
In Real Life Women Don't Play Jazz by Kathleen De Grave of Pittsburg, KS
The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre by Dominic Smith of Austin, TX

FINALISTS:
A Place to Come Home To by Marj Casswell of Vancouver, WA
A Stripper's Tale by Roz Kuehn Unruth of Hockessin, DE
Barrington by Louis Williams of Brookings, SD
Bellafortuna by Chip LoCoco of New Orleans, LA
Bloodless by William Coles of Chapel Hill, NC
Dangerous to Self and Others by Robert G. Ripley of Seattle, WA
Extreme Consequences by Neil C. Hall, III of Mandeville, LA
Haints by Baker Lawley of Tuscaloosa, AL
In the Realm of Mere Consolation by Carlos Cunha, West Hartford, CT
Life's Fading Illusions by Tom Welsh, Xenia, OH
Long Shot by Donna C. Ebert of Caldwell, NJ
Lunch Bucket Paradise by Fred Setterberg of Oakland, CA
Occitania by Paul Byall of Savannah, GA
Precarious by Hope Coulter of Little Rock, AR
Sweet Opium by Rosary O'Neill of New Orleans, LA nad New York, NY
The Lotus Easters by Tatjana Soli of Tustin, CA
The Poison That Fascinates by Jennifer Clement of Mexico City, Mexico
Zinzi by Phyllis MacBryde of New York, NY

Novella: Judged by Janette Turner Hospital

EQUAL RUNNERS-UP:
GOMI by Malina Watrous, San Francisco, CA
Down at the Egyptian Room by Michael Prichett, Kansas City, MO

FINALISTS:
The Madonna of the Parking Lot by Regina La Barre, New York, NY
This Rebellious House by Maureen Aitken, Minneapolis, MN

SEMI-FINALISTS:
Girls in Peril by Karen Lee Boren, Providence, RI
Erica's Books by Katie Bowler, Harahan, LA
Safe Shall Be My Going by Joan Corwin, Evanston, IL
To Cover Her Eyes by Dakin Dalpoas, Oglesby, IL
Rosamundo by B. de la Cuesta, Beachwood, NJ
Diary of a Pig by Charles Holdefer, Poitiers, France
Listen and Say Nothing More by Nancy Nye Knipe, Green Mountain Falls, CO
The Best Dress by Cindy Lou Levee, Baton Rouge, LA
The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais, Philadelphia, PA
What is Owed by Louise Farmer Smith, Washington, DC
The House of Leaves by Angela Tung, Tuckahoe, NY

Novel in Progress: Judged by Elinor Lipman

FIRST RUNNER-UP: The Perfect Journey by George Wen, New York, NY SECOND RUNNER-UP: The Hobbyist by John Bullock, Madison, WI

FINALISTS:
And Soon There Will Be None by Joe Jenkins, Savannah, GA
A Soft, Leafy Brilliance by
Autobiography of My Twin by Anne Hellman, Brooklyn, NY
Back in the Day by Caitlin O'Neil, Cambridge, MA
Cadillac Day by Linda Wojtowick, Lake Oswego, OR
Caterpillars by Eileen Cronin, Arlington, VA
Cleaning Up by Cinthia Ritchie, Anchorage, AK
Courting Jane
Eugene in August by Barret O'Brien, New Orleans, LA
Isadora Liberated by Danella P. Hero, Belle Chasse, LA
Krewe of Venus by Jane Neathery Cutler, Minneapolis, MN
On Locust Street by Kathleen Crowley, Somerville, MA
Retroman by Bruce Wexler, Elmhurst, IL
Save Your Own by Elisabeth Brink, Newburyport, MA
Sympathy
Taming Judith by Mark Wiederanders, Carmichael, CA
The Girl in the Lands' End Catalogue by Dale Edmundson of New Orleans, LA
The Luck of the Blue Dragonfly by Angela Lam, Santa Rosa, CA
The Monumental Hoax by B. J. Ryan, Bodfish, CA
The Queen of Cups by Amy S. Kennedy Foseen, New Brighton, MN
Tropical Depression by Rosary O'Neill, Ithaca, NY

SEMI-FINALISTS:
Black Time, by Otis Twelve, Walnut, IA
Blindspots by Sarah Stark Doyle, Santa Fe, NM
Computer Boy and the Frozen Ark by
Evremonde by Diana Mayer, Dulles, VA
Fooling the Sun by Gwen Strauss, Savannah, GA
For Zane by Amanda Luna, Caledonia, MS
Higher Ground by Michaael Shumate, High Point, NC
Into the Afterfall by Robert Gatewood, Water Valley, MS
Making the Good Times Last by Linda T. Wilson, Atlanta, GA
Or So You Say by Leah Fortson, New York, NY
Overdue by Peggy O'Neal Peden, Nashville, TN
Running Money by Rita Welty Bourke, Nashville, TN
Saluting the Sun by Mary Hutchings Reed, Chicago, IL
Tears Upon Sorrow by Laurie K. Walls, Titusville, FL
That's What I Want by Robert Morgan Fisher, Woodland Hills, CA
The Best Seat in the House by Maria Massei-Rosato, Cold Spring Harbor, NY
The Buddha in the Hot Tub by Anne Mini, Seattle, WA
The Antidote by Mary Hoffman, Brooklyn, NY
The Fog Machine by Susan Follett, Oakdale, MN
The Gestation of Pegasus by Del Coates, San Jose, CA
The Ghost Car by Susan Dewell, Tulsa, OK
The Girl in the Bathtub by Robert Raymer, Penang, Malaysia
The Mermaid Chronicles by Donna Olson, Southhampton, NY
The Playhouse Society by Anita Kragelund Busbord, Roegilsvej, Denmark
The Tyranny of Seedless Things by Trevor John Bundy, New York, NY

Short Story: Judged by Stuart Dybek

FIRST RUNNER-UP: This Whole Negativity Thing by George Harrar, Wayland, MA FIRST RUNNER-UP: See Ben's Family by Kenneth Kaye of Evanston, IL

FINALISTS: Einstein's Daughter by Mary Michael Wagner, San Francisco, CA
Scales by Mario Rene Padilla, Venice, CA
Lives of Mapmakers by Alicia L. Conroy, Minneapolis, MN
Local Boy by Laura Denham, London, England
See Ben's Family by
Dead Cat Bounce by Steve Hermanos
Erice by Janie Dempsey Watts
Thaw by Caitlin O'Neil
The Last Girl on Earth by Mary Michael Wagner, San Francisco, CA
What you ask for by A. C. Lambeth
She Plays by Effrem Sigel, New Rochelle, NY
This Whole Negativity Thing by George Harrar

SEMI-FINALISTS:
Adopt A Highway by David Comfort, Santa Rosa, CA
A Winter's Day, Robert Steven Williams, Westport, CT
Darkside, Elaine Winer, Morristown, NJ
Flowers and the Statue of Liberty
Fondling the Dark, Gail Waldstein, Denver, CO
Gatekeeper, Leslie Fish, Phoenix, AZ
Ghosts of Amsterdam, Larry Caldwell, Seaside Park, NJ
Going Home, Elinathan Ohiomoba, Houston, TX
Gone by Bill Lochfelm
Hardship Pay, Leighton Scott, Vilas, NC
How Things Might Be Otherwise
I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Someday, Michael H. Rudeen, Denver, CO
Lynchburg, David Snow, New Orleans, LA
Mojave, Katheryn Laborde, River Ridge, LA
Nor Dark of Night, Paul Michel, Seattle, WA
Passing on the Right, Robert J. Kriss, Winnetka, IL
Proof of a Man, Marilyn Moriarty, Roanoke, VA
Redemption, Amy K. Humphries, Dallas, TX
Something Else Entirely, Donna Lee Davis, Hartwood, VA
The Man Who Couldn't Lose, Scott Burkhead, Apex, NC
The Next Great Ice Age, Thomas Cooper, Gainesville, FL
The 78, Amanda Osgood Jonientz, Seattle, WA
The Testimony, J. Timothy Rice, Folsom, LA
Thirteen Ways of Looking at Love, Flowers, and The Statue of Liberty by Dale Edmonds, New Orleans, LA
Times Valuable by Bill Gregg, Louisville, KY

Essay: Judged by Michael Dirda

FIRST RUNNER-UP: The Book I Do Not Write in Eight Years by Nicole Jerr of Northbrook, IL SECOND RUNNER-UP: An Elegy for Edith by Margo Feeley, Berkeley, CA

FINALISTS:
All It Took Was Oral Surgery by Katie Bindley, Chicago, IL
A Single Light: The Letters and Diaries of Sophie Scholl by A.K. Leibmann, Munich, Germany
Color by Karen Krotzer Laborde, River Ridge, LA
Deep by Karel Sloane, New Orleans, LA
Echoes in an Ear Canal by Gail Waldstein, Denver, CO
Feel Bad All Over by
Furukawa: Session 6/Skepticlaly Optimistic by Garry Wallace, Powell, WY
In the Name of the Bomb by Terre Ryan, Reno, NV
It's So Cliche by Leslie Lehr Spirson, Woodland Hills, CA
Larry by
Panic Attack by
Scoldings from Strangers by Katy Read, Minneapolis, MN
Susan and the Zunnis by Beth Alvarado, Tucson, AZ
The Meticulous Eye: Meditations on Poets who Paint by Ruth Moon Kempher, St. Augustine, FL
The Romance of Trash by Carlos Cunha, West Hartford, CT
The Scent of Russian Olive by
The Umbilical by Rodger Kamenetz, New Orleans, LA
Tune Lock by Rodger Kamenetz, New Orleans, LA
Women Die Well by Ellen Ann Fentress, Jackson, MS

SEMI-FINALISTS:
Considering the Funeral by Mardith J. Louisell, San Francisco, CA
Daughters of Emipire by James Satterfield Batteman
Faces Wild: The Battle of Algiers Goes On by Steve Street, Buffalo, NY
Frightened George: How The Pediatric-Educational Complex Ruined the Curious Geore Series by Daniel Greenstone, Oak Park, IL
Fruit of Wisdom Leah M. Cano, Santa Cruz, CA
Knowhere, UK by James Satterfield Batteman
Mind Fields by Thomas Maciocha, Palm Harbor, FL
Sticks and Stones by Wendy Reed Bruce, Bham, AL
The Girl Wanted to Be A Homeless Wanderer by Judy Copeland, Iowa City, IA
They Wore Green Corduroy by Susan Follett, Oakdale, MN
Writing's Parents: Silence and Stillness by Mal King, Santa Paula, CA

Poem: Judged by Daniel Halpern

FIRST RUNNER-UP: Dancing at the Moulin Rouge by Nadine Meyer, Columbia, MO SECOND RUNNER-UP: The Scavenger Hunt by Jessica Mae Pavlas, Brooklyn, NY THIRD RUNNER-UP: Wings Echoing by Emily Lupita Plum, Lovilia, IA

FINALISTS:
A Boy's Kingdom by Daniel J. Held, Ruckersville, VA
Ariadneae, I. A. Mosvold, Louisville, KY
Before the Death Card, Khrynn Yvonne McManus, Prairieville, LA
Building by Scott Bailey, Hattiesburg, MS
Classical Black Woman by Trenise R. Robinson, New Orleans, LA
Garage Sale in D Minor by Michael Dunn, Sweet Valley, OH
Field of Dolls by Hanna Hurwitz, Milwaukee, WI
Headfirst Rantings of an Introvert by Tony Magee, New Orleans, LA
I Am the Family Historian by Billie Travolini, Baltimore, MD
I Speak in My Mother's Voice by Susan Terris, San Francisco, CA
In The Dark by Deborah Serra, Rancho Santa Fe, CA
I Want My Country Back by John Andrew Vescio
My Son by Abayomi Animashaun, Las Vegas, NV
Night Flight by James McEnteer, Oakland, CA
Once There Were Nightingales by S. T. Eleu, Chicago, IL
Pennies on a Hill by Rodger Kamenetz, New Orleans, LA
Return Trip By James McEnteer, Oakland, CA
The Crown of Creation by Manfred Pollard, New Orleans, LA
The Scavenger Hunt by Carrington MacDuffie, Seattle, WA
The first time I laid myself out open to an outside physician by Rodger Kamenetz, NO, LA
True by Dawn McGuire, MD, Berkeley, CA
Uncertainties by Pat Gallant of New York, NY

SEMI-FINALISTS:
A Lovely Design, Alan Walter Simpson, Castro Valley, CA
A Promise of Doves and Umbrellas, David Snow, New Orleans, LA
Before the Death Card, Khrynn Yvonne McManus, Prairieville, LA
Binary Vision,
Cosmocracy, Dennis Fomento (check name), New Orleans, LA
Crown of Creation, Manfred Pollard, New Orleans, LA
For This Alone, Marcia Ross, Cambridge, MA
Homages, Lynn Veach Sadler, Sanford, NC
In The Night, M. L. Dunser, Columbus, MS
Mirrored Snakes and Orchides , Amy Trussel, Santa Rosa, CA
My Son the Lynx, I. A. Mosvold, Louisville, KY
Near the Metro
North Lied to Him, Anthony DiLeo, New Orleans, LA
Nothing is Perfect, Billie Vasdev, Rochester, MN
Parade of Miraculous Champions , January 24, 2004,
Play Time, Nick Finnegan , Houston, TX
Ready for Stars, Joseph S. Plum, Lovilia, IA
That Woman, Anne McCrady, Henderson, TX
The Calling Card, Barbara Perry, Chicago, IL
The One Thing I could Never Tell You ,
The Most Beautiful Girl, Kay Castaneda, Carmel, IN
The Square Root of Leopard, Carrington MacDuffie, Seattle, WA
The Tiger's Girl, Frank Sherry, Pottersville, MO
The Unfinished Book, Manfred Pollard, New Orleans, LA
Welcome to Midnight, Ryan Browne, Tucker, GA

High School Short Story: Judged by Tom Piazza

RUNNERS-UP:
Scritch-Scratch by Rachel Cole, New Orleans, LA
Neither Burning nor Washing by Josslyn Lake, Clayton, MO
The Balconies of Camaguey by Daniel Castro, New Orleans, LA

FINALISTS:
Be a Man
Head Over Heels
Liquid of the Heart
A Heap of Life
A Matter of Vibration
Insomnia and Cigarettes
Drive
Blue
Fragment
The Children's Story
The Walks of Dreams
Tomorrow
Train
God in Handcuffs
The Cry of Eagles
The Werewolf House
TV and Toddlers: An Experiment in Science
A parable of Feudal Backwardness
Medusa
Red
The Fisherman

SEMI-FINALISTS:
April by Allison Carroll, Clancy, MT
Acting Unusually by Jessica Brock, ?
Blue 17 by Allison Nicole Wiltz, New Orleans, LA, NOCCA, Sponsor, Anne Gisleson
God Will Increase by Renee Branum, Carbondale IL
Gourami by Uma Nagendra,
Hurricane by
Idle Hands by
Places That Boil and Freeze by Colin Gilbert, New Orleans, NOCCA, sponsor, Anne Gisleson
Into the Garden of the Dreammaker by Katherine Lieder, Carbondale, IL
Solve, Channel Clarke by New Orleans, NOCCA, sponsor: Ed Skoog
Team Spirit by
The Final Round by C. J. Stapley, Smithfield, UT
The Skin of a Kiwi by Samiron Dutta, Maritinez, GA
The Sweetest Honey by Logan Burda, Lincoln, NE,
Tree by Amy Arthur, Mandeville, LA, NOCCA, Sponsor, Anne Gisleson

ABOUT OUR 2004 JUDGES!

Novella:
Janette Turner Hospital, who grew up on the coast of Queensland, Australia, is one of that vast continent's very best literary exports. Ms. Hospital holds the Dickey Chair as a Carolina Distinguished Professor of Literature at the University of South Carolina. Her novels and short stories, which have been published in 13 languages, include the novel Oyster, which was a finalist for both of Australia's major literary prizes: The Miles Franklin Prize and the National Book Award. Her new short story collection, North of Nowhere, South of Loss, and her latest novel, Due Preparations for the Plague, were published recently to international critical acclaim. Ms. Hospital currently is on an extended book tour in her native Australia, where she learned that she is short-listed with Nobel Laureate J. M. Coetzee for Australia's most coveted prize. Prior to leaving for Downunder, she completed a successful book tour in the British Isles. Ms. Hospital has been a member of the faculty for Words & Music twice and will be participating as a faculty member again at the 2004 writers' conference in addition to judging the novella competition.

Novel in Progress:
Elinor Lipman, is the author of eight books: the novels The Pursuit of Alice Thrift, The Dearly Departed, The Ladies' Man, The Inn at Lake Devine, Isabel's Bed, The Way Men Act, Then She Found Me, and a collection of stories, Into Love and Out Again. She has taught writing at Simmons, Smith and Hampshire colleges, and at the Bennington Summer Writers' Workshop. Her essays have appeared in The Boston Globe Magazine, Gourmet, Chicago Tribune, and The New York Times' "Writers on Writing" series. Of her work The Boston Globe has said, "Lipman has been referred to as 'the master of the art of screwball comedy,' but 'screwball' doesn't do justice to her fiction, which renders serious subjects through a lens of humor and hope." Book Magazine, which named The Pursuit of Alice Thrift as one of the top five books of 2003, wrote, "Like Jane Austen, the past master of the genre, Lipman isn't only out for laughs. She serves up social satire, too, that's all the more trenchant for being deftly drawn." Raised in Lowell, MA, she lives in Northampton, MA, with her husband, Robert Austin. She received the New England Booksellers' 2001 fiction award for a body of work. Ms. Lipman will participate as a member of the faculty of Words & Music, 2004, as well as judging the novel-in-progress competition.

Short Story:
Stuart Dybek, who is described in a starred review by Kirkus as the Nelson Algren of contemporary literature. Dybek is among the hottest names in fiction today with a sense of humor to rival that of the most intelligent stand-up comics or talk show hosts and an engaging way of presenting the harsh reality of 21st century urban America in his stories. Dybek is author of a new novel, presented in the form of connected stories, I sailed With Magellan. Publisher's Weekly has this to say about his new book: A powerful, cumulative portrait . . . These beautifully written stories teem with aching recollections. They are lyrical odes to wasted lives, youthful desires, vanishing innocence and the transformative power of memory. Dybek received high acclaim for his first book, The Coast of Chicago, an edgy collection of stories about his hometown, Chicago, its sharply divided culture, brilliantly mixing highly sophisticated grit lit with wry humor, frequently of the noir variety. Dybek also is the author of the short story collection, Childhood and Other Neighborhoods, as well as a volume of poetry, Brass Knuckles. His writing has been frequently anthologized and appears regularly in periodicals, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Poetry, The Paris Review, and Tri-Quarterly. Among the many honors he has received for his work are a PEN/Bernard Malamud Prize, a Whiting Writers' Award, several O. Henry Prizes, and a Pushcart Prize. A professor of English at Western Michigan University, he lives in Kalamazoo, MI. Streets in Their Own Ink, a collection of poems, will be published by FSG in 2004. Dybek will participate as a member of the Words & Music faculty in 2004.

Essay:
Michael Dirda, literary critic for The Washington Post Book World and author of the Post's regular online column, Dirda on Books, was graduated from Oberlin College cum laude subsequently won a Fulbright Fellowship to study in France, where he completed advanced studies at the Universite d'Aix-en-Provence. He completed his MA and Ph.D in comparative literature at Cornell University. In 1993 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism and the same year was selected by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the 25 smartest people in Washington and has received numerous other awards and honors. He has chaired the Pulitzer Prize jury for biography and has been a board member of The National Book Critics Circle. He was annual contributor of The Year in American Literature to Collier's Encyclopedia Yearbook from 1982-1998 and The Year in American Poetry for The World Book Encyclopedia Yearbook from 1990 through 1998. His own books include Caring for your Books, A Celebration of Writing, Looking for a Good Time: Reading, Libraries and the World of Books, and his memoir issued last year, An Open Book: Coming of Age in the Heartland. His new book, Bound to Please: Why Reading Flaubert is Fund and Other Essays on Great Books and Their Writers will be released by Norton this year. In his capacity as a critic he appears regularly on national television and the national lecture circuit and he has taught at University of Central Florida, American University, George Mason University, and the University of Maryland. In addition to his articles for the Post, Dirda regularly writes reviews, articles, essays, and profiles for The Atlantic Monthly, The Times Literary Supplement, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Smithsonian Magazine, Business 2.0, The Nation, The Review of Contemporary Fiction, Connoisseur, The New Leader, The Week Standard, Crisis,The Writer, The Wilson Quarterly, Inc., The American Book Collector, Brick, and other journals. Dirda, in addition to English, is fluent in French, Italian, Latin, and German and regularly writes scholarly articles for such diverse publications as Fantasy and Supernatural Fiction and The Baker Street Journal. He has been a member of the faculty for Words & Music for five years and will be returning in 2004.

Poetry:
Daniel Halpern was born in Syracuse, New York, and has lived in Los Angeles, Seattle, New York City, and Tangier, Morocco. He is the author of nine collections of poetry, most recently Something Shining (Knopf, 1999), Selected Poems (Knopf, 1994), and Foreign Neon (Knopf, 1991); editor of numerous anthologies, including The Art of the Tale (Penguin, 1987) and The Art of the Story (Penguin, 2000), and two food books, Halpern's Guide to the Essential Restaurants of Italy and The Good Food: Soups, Stews & Pastas. He has received numerous grants and awards, including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as the 1993 PEN Publisher Citation. For 25 years he edited the international literary magazine Antaeus, which he founded in Tangier, Morocco with Paul Bowles. He is the recipient of many grants and awards, including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as the 1993 PEN Publisher Citation. From 1975 to 1995 he taught in the graduate writing program of Columbia University, which he Chaired for many years -- and he has also taught at The New School for Social Research and the writing program at Princeton University. He is now Editorial Director of ECCO, An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, and lives in New York and Princeton, NJ, with his wife, the writer Jeanne Wilmot, and daughter, Lily.

Short Story by a High School Student
Tom Piazza, who won the James A. Michener Award for his first collection of short fiction, Blues and Trouble, won the Faulkner Society's gold medal for Best Novel in 2002 and the winning manuscript, My Cold War, has since been published to critical acclaim. Piazza is expert in the field of writing non-fiction, too, especially about musit and this year he won a Grammy in the Best Album Notes category. Piazza won it for his 5,000-word essay on the blues, which was the main text for the booklet for the 5-CD set Martin Scorsese Presents THE BLUES: A Musical Journey. The set came out last fall as a companion piece to the PBS series of the same name. The series was a seven-part exploration of the blues, with individual episodes directed by Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Wim Wenders, and others. The boxed CD set with Piazza's essay contains blues performances from the early 1920s through the presents, and includes figures like Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, Bessie Smith, Muddy Waters, Professor Longhair, Corey Harris, and Cassandra Wilson. The set itself also won a Grammy Award, for Best Historical Album. Tom wrote the essay last summer at Yaddo, and they featured an article about the essay up on their website. You might enjoy it, and you can find it at: http://yaddo.org/yaddo/tompiazza.shtml Tom has been a member of the faculty of Words & Music since 1997 and will return this year.

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