Amended list of Contest Entries

Literati

Below is the complete lit of all contest entries.  Please choose one and send your choice to thorn@awordwithyoupress.com   Only those who entered the contest are eligible to vote, and you are free to vote for yourselves.

Your decision should be based on the same criteria that Pulitzer Prize winner Jonathan Freedman will use to select the winner from a list of three finalists I will send him: Vote for the entry that in your opinion most poignantly evokes our painful past (or present) but inspires us to a more hopeful future, reminding us that we have more in common than our pain. Clarity and use of language are important characteristics to consider, as well as reverence for humanity.

This vote is to determine finalists.  Jon Tobias and Sarah Akhtar are already finalists by default (see previous posts) so voting for either of them is a wasted vote.  The top three vote-getters plus Jon and Sarah will be given a new prompt Saturday morning left-pond time, and have three days to submit their entry.  I will chose the best three based on my own tastses and prejudices, but I will tell you that creative and persuasive use of language always figures in to my thinking. Jonathan will then determine our winner and provide authoritative commentary that carries the weight of a Pulitzer Prize winner, whose award was given for addressing the xenophobia that still contaminates the air we breathe.  Entering this contest, sharing your stories and insights, is about the most noble thing you can do to be part of the solution.

Here are the contestants with links to their stories:

The Drinking Fountain Entries

Untitled contest opener                         Claudia Barillas

This land is your land…Claudia Barillas, contestant #1

My Great Grandmother                         Karen Worstell

Karen Worstell’s Trail of Tears is entry #29

Untitled entry #11                                 Kristina Tsatsakos

Kristina Tsatsakos, Contestant #11, time travels to 1931

Racism DOA                                         Baruch Howard

Baruch Howard, Entry #17, shares a brutal memory

The Open Gate                                      Sal Buttacci

Sal Buttaci enters the fray as Contestant #18

Salute                                                     Laura Elizabeth

Laura Elizabeth, entry #27, when rage smells like gunpowder

The Last Time                                       Sarah Akhtar

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2018/01/17/entry-16-sara-crysl-ahktar-the-last-time/

Stonework                                              Shawna Smart

Grant Lawrence, contest entry 37

Lessons from Virginia                            Leslie Clark

Leslie Clark, Contestant #5: Lessons from Virginia

Stages of Attention                                 Martin David

Where’s Waldo? Martin David, entry #21

Pearls                                                      Tiffany Vakilian

Tiffany Vakilian is entry #32

Just shut up and smile                             Sunny Reed

Sunny Reed: Contestant #4: Shut up and smile

Blackout                                                  Mischa Blank

Mischka Blank channels Franz Kafka, entry #20

Either or Neither Noir                             Jeff Swit

Jeff Switt, Contestant #13, in one hundred words

Just for a Moment                                   Miryam Meiers (Howard)

Miryam Meiers, entry#35 The Drinking Fountain contest

Untitled Entry #1                                    Claudia Barillas

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2018/02/18/claudia-barillas-entry-23-family-really-matters/

The Drinking Fountain                           Grant Lawrence

Grant Lawrence, contest entry 37

Whose Skin is that?                                Katalyn Keim

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2018/02/23/katy-keim-has-some-skin-in-the-game-entry-24/

Black Poem                                            Sheri Strobaugh

Sheri Strobaugh makes it 25.

The Superior Race                                  Jan Kalish

Jan Kalish, contestant #19, has a question for Lady Liberty

Race Story                                              Jennifer Redmond

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2018/04/06/jennifer-redmond-makes-it-33/

Untitled entry #28                                  Julie Dunaway

With entry #28 Julie Dunaway adds her thoughts

Little Hell                                                Michael Dilts

https://awordwithyoupress.com/tag/contestant10/

No Negroes Allowed                               Katalyn Keim

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2017/12/21/katalyn-keim-contestant9-tosses-another-pebble-in-the-pond/

Let Freedom Sting                                   Kyle Katz

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2018/04/12/kyle-katz-is-entry-number-34/

The Angel of Bread                                 Jon Tobias

Jon Tobias is #40

An Equality Certain                                 FJ Dagg

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2018/03/26/fj-dagg-makes-it-thirty/

Miss, why are all the girls grey?              Anna Munter

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2017/12/19/anna-munter-contestant-7-miss-why-are-all-the-girls-grey/

A Sharper Color                                       Kristine Grant

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2018/03/06/kristine-grant-makes-it-26/

The Divided Emancipation of America   Pafia Marigold

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2018/05/09/lady-parfia-marigold-entry-38/

 Broken Glass still under my Skin           Sarah Akhtar

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2018/05/12/sarah-akhtar-is-contestant-39/

Betty Davis Eyes                                     Miryam Meiers (Howard)

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2017/12/20/shalom-baby-miryam-howard-is-contestant-8/

The Land of Oz                                        Michael Stang

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2018/01/05/michael-stang-contestant-12-on-the-road/

The Test                                                   Riley Sampson

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2018/02/17/riley-sampson-entry-22the-same-caliber-as-a-gun/

The Crucible                                            Shawna Smart

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2017/12/10/the-crucible-shawna-smart-contestant-3/

Tzschia’s Summer Vacation on Earth     Pafia Marigold

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2018/01/11/contestant-15-lady-pafia-marigold-from-a-galaxy-far-far-away/

Don’t nobody get off the Sidewalk         Baruch Howard(Brian)

Baruch Howard, Entry #17, shares a brutal memory

November Blues                                      Kristy Webster

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2018/03/28/kristy-webster-entry-31/

Black like her                                          Briana Beaver

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2017/12/18/entry-6-briana-beaver-black-like-her/

The Color Line                                         Kyle Katz

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2018/01/09/klye-katz-contestant14-shares-a-memory/

Privileged (ineligible for the contest)      His Moiness-in-Chief

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2018/01/27/the-healing-game/

Segregations                                            Martin David

https://awordwithyoupress.com/2017/12/09/contestant-2-martin-david-behind-closed-doors/

 

 

 

2 thoughts on “Amended list of Contest Entries

  1. Laura says:

    Thorn, a few links lead to stories that are not by the author listed. Shawna Smart’s “Stonework” link goes to Grant’s poem. Both of Baruch’s links go to the same story rather than each of his 2 stories..Just FYI in case people want to read all of them.

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