Fairhope 2014 Fiction Prize
Undergraduate Winner: "Her Face in the Dark" by Jackie DeRobertis, Louisiana State University
Jackie DeRobertis is a senior Creative Writing major at Louisiana State University currently completing her honors thesis, a collection of short stories. She is co-editor of Delta Undergraduate Journal. She has published poetry in New Delta Review.
GCACWT Fiction Judge Sian B. Griffith's commentary:
I went back and forth between the two because each took such great risks and both were incredibly well crafted. In the end, I selected "Her Face In the Dark" as the winner because of its excellent job with characterization and detail. It felt complete from start to finish, but never in any way that was predictable.
I went back and forth between the two because each took such great risks and both were incredibly well crafted. In the end, I selected "Her Face In the Dark" as the winner because of its excellent job with characterization and detail. It felt complete from start to finish, but never in any way that was predictable.
Graduate Winner: "Three Encounters on the Balsa" by Hannah Reed, Louisiana State University
Hannah Reed is currently pursuing her M.F.A. at Louisiana State University. Prior to entering the M.F.A. program, Hannah served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador, where she worked with at-risk youth and their families in the southern Andes. Hannah earned her B.A. in Development Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.
GCACWT Fiction Judge Sian B. Griffith's commentary:
I ended up placing Hannah Reed's story "Three Encounters on the Balsa" first for a number of reasons. What struck me first were the language and imagery, which are amazing. From the first sentence to the last, I was entranced by the rhythms in the sentences themselves. She's got a poet's ear. On top of that, her characters are rounded and read as real people, not inventions. And perhaps most importantly of all, this story transported me to a world that felt authentic and complete. The characters each seemed to have full lives, which problems and aspirations beyond those that drove the plot. We get a beautiful piece of those lives and the world they inhabit, but I have no doubt that they live more fully in the writer's imagination and that they will continue to give her stories.
I ended up placing Hannah Reed's story "Three Encounters on the Balsa" first for a number of reasons. What struck me first were the language and imagery, which are amazing. From the first sentence to the last, I was entranced by the rhythms in the sentences themselves. She's got a poet's ear. On top of that, her characters are rounded and read as real people, not inventions. And perhaps most importantly of all, this story transported me to a world that felt authentic and complete. The characters each seemed to have full lives, which problems and aspirations beyond those that drove the plot. We get a beautiful piece of those lives and the world they inhabit, but I have no doubt that they live more fully in the writer's imagination and that they will continue to give her stories.