And Then There Were Nine

Entries have been further winnowed down to nine semi-finalists for the Emerging Writer Prize.

Congratulations in no particular order to:

Susan Karr

Tonissa Saul

Kristen Falso-Capaldi

J.C. Augustine Wetta

Ali McCart

Eric Maus

Phylise Smith

David Fong

Caroline Zarlengo Sposto

Each writer’s response to the prompt Why I write… brought a spontaneous laugh, a tear, or a sense of resonance that invited me to get to know that writer more. Each response held up as better crafted when compared with others that made it past the preliminary round. The next phase includes reading the writing samples and weighing both their craft in responding to the prompt and the sample of their writing in their chosen genre.