William Faulkner - William Wisdom
Creative Writing Competition
2006 Winners, Finalists, Semi-finalists Announced

Novel
TheWinner
Intercession
By
Susan Schoenberger of West Hartford, CT

Susan Schoenberger has been a journalist since 1984 at various newspapers, including The Baltimore Sun and The Hartford Courant, where she now works as a part-time copy editor. Her articles and essays have appeared in many publications, most recently in the Courant’s Sunday magazine. Her short stories have appeared in Inkwell and the Village Rambler. Her winning manuscript, Intercession, is her first novel. Susan lives in West Hartford, CT, with her husband and three children.

First Runner-Up
The Man Who Wouldn't Stand Up
By Jacob Appel, New York, NY
Second Runner-Up
Cracks
By Dedra Johnson, New Orleans, LA

Short List For Finalists
Courting Jane, Jennifer Veser, Dunedin, FL
Girl in the White Raincoat, Eugene Mora,Westbury, NY
Hibiscus Airport, Girija Tropp, Crodon, Victoria, Australia
House Concert, T. M. McNally, Scottsdale, AZ
Isabella's Journal, Gregory Bascom, Miami, FL
Little Iotas of Love, Scott D. Yarbrough, Mt. Pleasant, SC
Operating Within the Shadows, J. A. Markey, Lakeland, FL
Rebecca Farrar in White, Lev Olsen, New York, NY
Snapdragon Nightmares, James Donaldson, Summerville, SC
Stealing Wigs, Bevely Blasingame, Ocean Springs, MS
The Final Effort of the Archer, Michael Pritchett, Overland Park, KS
The Housekeeper, Jennifer Vacchiano, Arvada, CO
The House of Flowers, Ethel Morgan Smith, Morgantown, WV
The Lost Children of the Tabernacle, Doug Crandell, Marietta, GA
The Message Stick, Laine Cunningham, Hillsborough, NC
The Tattered Garter, Roz Unruh, Hockessin, DE
War Songs, Billy O'Callaghan, Douglas, County Cork, Ireland
Watching Walter Cronkite, Austin Ken Kutscher, Flemington, NJ
Zinzi, Phyllis MacBryde, New York, NY

First Runner-Up
Bed for Sale
By Carlos Cunha, Hartford, CT
Second Runner-Up
Skywriting, Andrew Malan Milward, Iowa City, IA
Third Runner-Up
Tell Me This Isn't Clint

Other Finalists
Balancing Against the Wind
Cooper's War, Timothy Jay Smith, Paris, France
Derrick Quinn, Joseph Pagano, Jr., Westfield, NJ
Lesson for This Summer, Sarah Van Arsdale, New York, NY
Quiet Desperation, Rodney Nelsestuen, Woodbury, MN
Why I Love Trinity Win By Jesus H. Christ, Xavier McCaffrey, Chicago, IL

Semi-Finalists
A Friend of the Family, Kate Betterton, Chapel Hill, NC
An Age of Marvels and Wonders, Perry Glaser, Haverhill, MA
Badlands, Cynthia Reeves, Wayne, PA
Between, Nicholas Alexander Hayes, Chicago, IL
Cast Down From Heaven, Patricia Madere Bercier, Lake Charles, LA
Come to Me, Michael Pritchett, Overland Park, KS
Concord, VA, Peter Neofotis, Buena Vista, VA
Cooper's War, Timothy J. Smith, Paris, France
Fireworks, William Reese Hamilton, Estada Aragua, Venezuela
Golden Calf, Charles Holdefer, Poitiers, France
It's Always Ourselves We Find in the Water,
Kris Saknussemm, Castlemain, Victoria, Australia
Naked and Famous, Elizabeth Cantanese, Columbia, SC
No Turning Back, Randall Lavender, Los Angeles, CA
Of Love's Memory, Obert Fittje, Tallahassee, FL
Pamina, Emily Winslow, Cambridge, England
Sylvie, Emily Meier, St. Paul, MN
Skimmers, Matthew Franks, North Little Rock, AR
The Burning of Lawrence, Andrew Malan Milward, Iowa City, IA
The Note, Stian Rice, South Euclid, OH
The Switch, Deborah Firmin, Ferriday, LA
Zig Zag Love, Latha Viswanathan, Houston, TX

Novel-in-Progress
The Winner
Sweet Magnolia Root
By
Jamey Maria Hatley of Baton Rouge, LA

Jamey Maria Hatley is an urban conjure woman descended from a long line of Mississippi conjurers and storytellers. A native of Memphis, TN, Ms. Hatley is a writer, artist, journalist, and letter writer. Born and raised in the Delta and inspired by the rich landscape of her birthplace, Ms. Hatley writes to weave a quilt of personal family history, black history, myth and magic. Ms. Hatley is pursuing an MFA in creative writing at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. She studied with Percival Everett at the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop and Victor LaValle at the Voices of Our Nation Workshop. She is at work on her first novel.
Equal Runners Up
Recipes for the Rapture, Bonnie West, St. Paul, MN
The Angels of Haphaza, George Bishop, Jr., Andhra Pradesh, India
The Grinding Season, Natalie Bazile, San Francisco, CA

Other Finalists
A Knock at the Door, Madeline Hansen Brown, Shippensburg, PA
All Irreconcilable Things, Andrea Malin, Los Angeles, CA
A Thousand Suppers, Randy Susan Meyers, Boston, MA
Benjamin Stone, D. M. Gordon, Leeds, MA
Echoes of Love and War, Joyce Miller, Cincinnati, OH
Evie & Bedford, Rita Welty Bourke, Nashville, TN
Flesh and Stardust, Shlomzion Kenan, Tel-Aviv, Israel
How to Talk to the Devil, Elizabeth Catanese, Columbia, SC
Killer of Toads, Paul Tolliver Brown, Columbia, SC
Like Radiance, Jessica Brown, White Plains, NY
Never Played With, Tom Bligh, Tallahassee, FL
The Madman Theory, Harvey Simon, Washington, DC
The Perfect Journey, George Wen, New York, NY
The Shakespeare Papers, Mark Wiederanders, Carmichael, CA
The Sun Cut Flat, Carolann Malley, Granby, MA
Welcome to My Lucky Life, Geoff Schutt, Asheville, NC
White Shadows, Black Dreams, Justin Swingle, Beverly Hills, CA

Semi-Finalists
An American Year, Sally Green, Boulder, CO
An Invincible Summer, Mal King, Santa Paula, CA
A Time of Reckoning, Patrick Farrell, Bellevue, WA
Doc Butterfly, Debra Lew Harder, Gladwyne, PA
Finding Moses, Jennifer Veser, Dunedin, FL
Firefly Lane, Karen Hunt, Woodland Hills, CA
Just One of Those Things, Claire Applewhite, St. Louis, MO
Kyle Lan: The Rise and Fall of a CEO, Ania Savage, Littleton, CO
Letting Go, Tatjana Soli, Tustin, CA
Life Plus, Anne Funderburg, Mandeville, LA
Litany, Mary Travers, Seattle, WA
Moving From Mimosa, Valerie Winn, Gautier, MS
No Extraordinary Means, Shari Stauch, Summerville, SC
Rue New Orleans, Mary Arno, Clarence Center, NY
Say Goodbye to the Age of Reason, Franny Key, McLean, VA
Seasons Between Heaven and Earth, Sharon Kurtzman, Raleigh, NC
Sonny and the Santa Fe Chief, David A. Wright, Columbia, SC
Spectral Voyages, Agata Izabela Brewer
Surviving Clown Therapy, Wendy Langford, Bristow, VA
The Cooperative Husband, Gwen Florio, Helena, MT
The Glamour, Erica Obey, New York, NY
The Park, Julie Giese, New York, NY
The Jewels of Lake Kivu, Naomi Benaron, Tucson, AZ
The Madman Theory, Harvey Simon, Washington, DC
The Perfect Journey, George Wen, New York, NY
Under The Acacias, Andrea K. Sigler Castro, Seattle, WA
Waiting in Vain, Mishelle Shepard, Abbeville, LA
What Is Is, James R. Manton, Mesquite,TX
When St. Valentine's Babies Cry, Mry Eileen Cronin, Arlington, VA
Willie June, Brenda McClain, Edisto Island, SC

Short Story
The Winner
A Fork in the Road
By
Mary R. Arno, Clarence Center, NY

Mary R. Arno, formerly a reporter and editor at The Los Angeles Times, The Times-Picayune, and The Orlando Sentinel, is now a freelance writer and editor working on her first novel. A New Orleans native, she is married and has four children. She and her family live on a farm in upstate New York.
Equal Runners-up
A Chocorua Funeral, Joe Ricker, Oxford, MS
My Father's Friends, Jackie Shannon-Hollis, Aloha, OR
Sanctuary, Joan Corwin, Evanston, IL

Semi-Finalists
All the Human Trouble, Shannon Cain, Tucson, AZ
Are You Decent, August Tarrier, Philadelphia, PA
A Thousand Ways to Do It, Sarah S. Doyle, Santa Fe, NM
By Any Other Name, Pat Gallant, New York, NY
Captain Withers Wife, William Coles, Chapel Hill, NC
Carl, Rodney Nelsestuen, Woodbury, MN
Eat!, Patricia Brieschke, Waccabuk, NY
Fragile White, Joyce Miller, Cincinnati, OH
Frontlets, Milly Heller, New Orleans, LA
Imperfections, Hillary Plum, Northhampton, MA
It's a Jungle in Here, Andrea Malin, Los Angeles, CA
Mixed Prayers, Randy Susan Meyers, Boston, MA
Mordecai's Apprentice, Ken Ross, Cherokee, IA
Once Upon a Time in New Orleans, Joyce Blaylock, Nashville, TN
Rear View, Joan Frank, Santa Rosa, CA
The Secret, Michael Compagnoli, Rockland, ME
The Story Teller, Iain S. Baird, New Orleans, LA
The Yard Man, Dawn Ruth, New Orleans, LA
Watching for Amish, Mary F. Potter, San Francisco, CA
Who Stand and Wait, Kim Weland, New Orleans, LA
You're in My Yard Now, Bobby Damon, Matthew Minson, M.D., Baltimore, MD

Essay
The Winner
Along the Wire
By
Ashley Rouen of Metairie, LA

Ashley Rouen was born and raised in New Orleans. Her parents are Rip and Debbie Rouen.  She attended the Academy of the Sacred Heart for 15 years and was graduated in 2005.  She is currently in her second year at the University of Georgia and majoring in English.  This summer Ashley worked in Washington D.C. as an intern for Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu.  She hopes to continue to strengthen her writing throughout the rest of her college career. 
First Runner-up
The Language of Loss, Ellis Anderson, Bay St. Louis, MS
Second Runner-up
Phoning Home, Jacob Appel, New York, NY
Third Runner-up
Surfside Casino: Walking the Dog, Ruth Moon Kempher, St. Augustine, FL

Other Finalists
Deposing the King, David Shields, Seattle, WA
Equilibrium, Gary Wallace, Powell, WY
HKC is a Pretty Good School, Gary Wallace, Powell, WY
Jordan The Dog, Joyce Blaylock, Nashville, TN
Love, Faith, Hope, Charity and Among the Ruins, Bill Roussarie, Marietta, GA
Nurses Crazy, Pat Gallant, New York, NY
Prison Refor, Georgia Style (1886-1887): One Couple's Crusade, Louise Staman, Macon, GA
Surprise Shot, Mindy Greenstein, New York, NY
The Crooked Track, Jane Satterfield, Baltimore, MD

Poetry
The Winner
Invisible
By
Mary Ann O'Gorman of Ocean Springs, MS

Mary Ann O’Gorman has lived in Ocean Springs,MS for 14 years, having lived in the
Midwest, the Northeast, and Italy before moving to the South. She currently teaches at University of Southern Mississippi, and has taught high school and college classes for almost 20 years. In 2005, she was a Writer-in-Residence for the Mississippi Arts Commission, and through this program taught in the Jackson County prison system. Her poems have been published in Desire Sreet and The Magnolia Quarterly.

First Runner-up
First Runner -up
Kildeer, etc.
N. Colwell Snell, Salt Lake City, UT
Second Runner -up
Buzzards of Time
Susan Terris of San Francisco, CA

Other Finalists
Ancient Chants, Helen Archeris, Newark, NJ
August, Margaret Sharp, Pine, CO
Bach, D. M. Gordon, Leeds, MA
Encounter, Emily Tuszynska, Fairfax, VA
Fate, Diana "Kat" Clark, Houston, TX
Feast, Andrew Clark, Milwaukee, WI
How the Rain Must Feel, L. Edwin Greer, New York, NY
Kiss, Michael Christopher, Berecz, Arlington, VA
Kissing William Faulkner, Maureen Sherbondy, Raleigh, NC
Leaves in the Wind, Lauren Elizabeth Pacenta, Lewisburg, PA
Ode à Champagne, Joachim Zemmour, Res St. Jean, Bordeaux, France
Poe in Storyland, Pat Kogos, St. Louis, MO
Rewriting Ithaca, Kiki Denis, New York, NY
The City of New Orleans, January, 2006, Joyce Blaylock, Nashville, TN
The Missing Song, Manfred Pollard, New Orleans, LA
The Swans Pass, Christine Pontecorvo, Lawrenceville, NY
Twig, Julia Stockton, Bynum, NC
Waiting for Rescue, Maureen Sherbondy, Raleigh, NC

Semi-Finalists
Eve of Destruction, Bobbi Dykema Katsanis, Berkeley, CA
In the Sewer of the South, Susan Terris, San Francisco, CA
Letter to a Friend, Maureen Sherbondy, Raleigh, NC
Life is Gone, Camille Lombardi-Olive, Lewisburg, PA
Lifeless Stones, Joseph H. Gorman, III, Philadelphia, PA
My Five Breasts, Louise Staman, Macon, GA
My Melancholy Muse, Bill Berry, Richmond, VA
A Saraband with Alfredo de Palchi, Ned Condini, Etowah, NC
Savoring, Mary Ann O'Gorman, Ocean Springs, MS
Stars, R. D. Tyler, Santa Monica, CA
The Quick and the Dead, Brian Etta, New York, NY
The Shadow of an Icicle, Gail Waldstein, Denver, CO
The Swimming Hole, Sharon T. DiLorenzo, Clifton Park, NY
Two Angels, Zachariah Kamla, Havre, MT
Vienna, 1965, N. Colwell Snell, Salt Lake City, UT
Your Shadow, Pat Gallant, New York, NY

Short Story by a High School Student
The Winner
Blue
By
Amy Levenhagen of West Allis, WI

Amy Levenhagen grew up in West Allis, WI, a suberb of Milwaukee, with her parents Mary and Chris, her brother Connor, and the family cats, dogs, fish, and their pet rat. She has been “blessed with an oversized extended family and wonderful friends, one of whom inspired” her winning short story Blue. She attended Mary, Queen of Heaven. Grade School and Catholic Memorial High School. She was a member of the Milwaukee Children’s Choir. Amy is currently studying at Bard College in New York and continues to write, sing and “shamelessly read Bukowski.”

First Runner-up
Freedom Lake, Elizabeth Maria Pzybylski Deatrick, Ann Arbor, MI
Second Runner-up
The Farm, William Barrett Clark, Mobile, AL

Other Finalists
Burnt and Undercooked, Bri McDowell, Idyllwild, CA
Heart of Stone, Chistine Pontecoro, Lawrenceville, NY
Hopfurt Street, Carey Powers, Idyllwild, CA
Just Let the Sun Go Down on Me, Tim Applewhite, St. Louis, MO
Maison de Soul
Penance, Laura Ruffino, Idyllwild, CA
Silence in Southern California, Meredith Mantik, Idyllwild, CA
Skits On New Orleans, Jeremy Buras, New Orleans, LA
Slaves of the Wind, Christine Pontecorvo, Lawrenceville, NJ
The Countdown, Madison Clark, Montgomery, AL
The Water Rock, William Barrett Clark, Mobile, AL

Semi-Finalists
Brothers, Bluegrass and that Big Fat Blue Sky,Leah C. Knopf, Seattle, WA
Hitler and the Betty Page Lunchbox, Marlo Barrerg, Idyllwild, CA
Janis, Kathryn LLewellyn, Westport, CT
Letting Her Hair Down, Johnna Dominguez
Myriad, Carly Weil, New York, NY
Pacific Village, Laurel Fischer, Idyllwild, CA
Six Wings and a Black Bowler Hat, William Barrett Clark, Mobile, AL
The Honorable Anecedotes of My Childhood Sweetheart, Whitney Janis, New York, NY
What is Love?, Christine Pontecorvo, Lawrenceville, NJ

2006 Judges

For names of 2004 & 2005 winners and finalists, click here on: Winners.


About the Competition


William Faulkner                 William Wisdom

The Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society, Inc., a non-profit organization devoted to preserving the storytelling heritage of New Orleans and its Deep South region and to providing support for aspiring authors, founded the William Faulkner Creative WritingCompetition in 1992. In 2004, the name of the Society's national literary talent search was changed to the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. This important name change was made in grateful appreciation to The Mary Freeman Wisdom Foundation and its trustees: Adelaide Wisdom Benjamin, Helen Hauser Wisdom, Mary E. "Betty" Wisdom, Edward Wisdom Benjamin, Stuart Minor Benjamin, Arthur Mitteer Wisdom, and Matthew Morgan Wisdom. The new name honors their forebear:
William B. Wisdom.

It is appropriate that the Faulkner Society be linked with the Wisdom family in this manner. Adelaide Benjamin and her sister Betty were among the first patrons of the Society. Adelaide was an early Chair of the Executive Board, and among the first to recognize the value of a national literary competition operated out of New Orleans, knowing, of course, that if such a venture were successful, it could only enhancethe image of the city as an important intellectual and cultural destination.

Adelaide Wisdom Benjamin
Mrs. Benjamin presented the first cash prize for a novel to a previously unrecognized literary talent, Stewart O'Nan, who has since published nine books of fiction. O'Nan this year regularly participates in the Society's annual writers' conference, Words & Music. Stewart has not failed, given the opportunity, to praise the Society, the Wisdom family, and New Orleans for having faith in him. Since then, the Wisdom family and the Mary Freeman Wisdom Foundation have been underwriters each year, with Adelaide creating the Marble Faun Prize for Fiction as a 100th birthday present for Mr. Faulkner in 1997.

Linking the two Williams is especially appropriate, as they were united by correspondence during their lifetimes William Faulkner was a writer of phenomenal talent and range, who became the best known American writer of the 20th century, capturing the Nobel Prize for Literature for his enormous body of work. William B. Wisdom was truly a renaissance man, playing a substantial role in every cultural undertaking of his community in his time. We celebrate, here, William Wisdom, the collector of books and manuscripts, and his special devotion to Faulkner's work and memorabilia. The Wisdom Collection is now part of the permanent collection of Tulane University's library. Informed by his good taste and instructed by his keen intelligence, he became a bibliophile nonpareil, recognizing the genius of Thomas Wolfe and William Faulkner early in their careers. Both collections are among the finest ever assembled. The Faulkner work, particularly the New Orleans material, has been the delight of Faulkner scholars including the preeminent Carvel Collins.

2004 & 2005 Winners
For information on 2004 & 2005 winners and finalists, click on winners.

Please Note:
We will be making some changes in the guidelines for 2007. Please do not mail your entries prior to January 15th when new guidelines will be posted.
For current guidelines now, revised guidelines after January 15, click here on:
Guidelines

If you have any problems linking with guidelines or entry form, e-mail us and we will send them.
Note: each entry in the competition must be accompanied by our entry form. To obtain one from this web site go to the end of this page and click on Official Entry Form. Or, you may send us an SASE with 74 cents postage and we will send you hard copies of the guidelines and entry form. For more information on the winners for 2004 and 2003, click here on:

Additional Information.

For the entry form, click here on:

Form.

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Welcome.