This year’s Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction drew about 200 submissions from around the United States and beyond. Our volunteer reading panel and managing editor narrowed down these entries to five finalists.
A big Hippocampus congratulations to:
- Simchi Cohen (“The Wanderer”)
- Lisa Ellison (“The Death of Sonny”)
- Jennifer Minarik (“Cold Fusion and the Poochie Overnighter: An Essay About Infertility”)
- Kat Read (“The Whale”)
- Lizzie Roberts (“Salt”)
We turned these stories over to our guest judge, who will rate each piece in four areas: originality of writer’s voice and style; story development and structure; use/grasp of craft of creative nonfiction; and ability to engage the reader.
Next Steps
All five of these stories will appear in the November 2019 issue of Hippocampus, which goes live the first full week of November. At that time, we’ll also announce our winner ($1,000) and runner-up ($250)!
A Nod to Our Short List
We’d also like to recognize a group of writers whose work rose to the top this year. The following writers and stories made our short list:
- Yuki Bailey – “A Paradisical Phantom Pain”
- Kit Carlson – “Dark Angels”
- Joyce Gordon – “Lady Bird”
- Kelly Hevel – “What You Do in a Coup”
- Jerry IL’Giovine – “Socrates Cave”
- Petra Perkins – “Cannot Be Seen, Nor Even Touched”
- Corinne Lincoln-Pinheiro – “Raining Blows”
- Henry Stimpson – “Protocol – Adventures in Healthcare with My Crazy 89-year-old Dad”
- Cheryl Suma – “Walking Boys”
A big shout-out to our reading panel for their hard work and dedication. A big thank-you to our special guest judge for 2019, Sam Chiarelli, author of Dig: A Personal Prehistoric Memoir. And, we’d also like to thank everyone who submitted to this year’s contest; as always, we enjoyed reading these stories and found it incredibly challenging to select finalists. One thing is certain: there are SO many stories that need to be told.
Stay tuned for our grand prize winner announcement!
