Down to Five!

There are some really interesting entries in this year’s Emerging Writer competition and it’s been tough to whittle down the field. Working through the semi-finalists to identify the top three requires critical reading of both the prompt response and the writing sample. With such a large bucket full of semi-finalists, both the writing sample and the prompt response must evoke a strong resonance. Some years, a grand writing sample or stellar prompt response will tip the scale. This year, both facets of the entry must be outstanding not just as a stand alone reading, but ranked within the field of entries.

I’ll be posting a few of the semi-finalists’ prompt responses between now and the conference. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed reading them.

Congratulations in no particular order to the top five:

Tonissa Saul

Kristen Falso-Capaldi

Ali McCart

Phylise Smith

Caroline Zarlengo Sposto