Michael Steinberg Essay Prize

Our judge, Jocelyn Bartkevicius, chose the following essay as the winner in the 2009 Editors' Prize:

1st Place: "Swim, Memory" by Megan Nix

Judge’s Comments: “This lovely and moving essay depicts fragmentation in the prelude to and aftermath of Katrina. The segmented form takes readers all over the map, from close-up to historical views of New Orleans, and as far north as Nashville, all the while producing a compelling forward narrative motion. Never sentimental, the essayist nevertheless creates scenes about animals, people, and place with a sensitivity tempered by subtle irony. This writer has an original voice, an eye for crackling detail and surprising juxtapositions, and a remarkable way of working reflection and fact into a story about the chaos and confusion of fleeing and returning to tragedy.”

Finalist: "How I Learned The Gospel By Heart And Stopped Saying Damn" by Josh MacIvor-Anderson

Judge’s Comments: “This highly nuanced portrait of two brothers takes readers back and forth between their present relationship as arborists and their past sometimes turbulent relationship under the hands of strict parents. The writer has created an interwoven narrative that seems effortless, and a portrait of a brother that is at once loving and tough.”

Honorable Mention:

"Red Hot Broken Girl" by Paula Brancato
"Louisville, 1953" by Judy Copeland
"Solving for P" by Emily Hipchen
"Putting Girls on the Map" by Irene Keliher
"Middle Ground" by Daisy Levy
"Bodies in Motion" by Kim Liao
"End of the Road" by Jeremy Lloyd
"Emptying Gary’s Garage" by Daniel Roche

1st Place: "The Last Cows" by Kathryn Wilder

Finalist: "The Dying Tradition" by Sara Lippmann

Honorable Mention:

"This is My Body" by Charlotte E. Sullivan
"Nothing Like We Planned" by Laura Newton
"Homage to a Bridge" by Sonya Huber

Winner: "Mammalian" by Nedra Rogers

Runner-Up: "Take Me with You" by Casey Fleming

Finalists:

"The Furniture of Memory" by Jennifer Henderson
"Snakeblood" by Kate Ellis

Honorable Mention:

"Sulia" by Kristen Cosby
"Her Mexico Blurs" by Emily Lupita Plum
"River of Names" by Vina Kay
"Looking for Some Action" by Jane Satterfield
"Afraid So" by Arthur Saltzman
"Black Raspberry Meditation" by Vanessa Griffin
"The Recesses of High School" by Jo Scott-Coe

1st Place: "The Fishing Story" by Beth Richards

Runner-Up: "The Scribe in the Woods" by Elizabeth Caroline Dodd

1st Place: "The Molino" by Melani Martinez

Runner-Up: "Gula, Gula--Listen, Listen: Memory and the Map of Childhood" by Mira Bartók