Emily Choate‘s latest publication–her story, “Stump Winter, Indian Summer”–is now available in Issue 6 of the Tupelo Quarterly Review. When you read it, you won’t be disappointed.
Also, Maurice Carlos Ruffin will have a new story, “Fast Hands, Fast Feet,” coming out in the next issue of The Pinch. Keep your eyes peeled for that. As always, as Peauxdunque publishes, we’ll let you know where to go find it!
Peauxdunquian Emily Choate will have her story, “Stump Winter, Indian Summer,” published in Tupelo Quarterly‘s upcoming issue! Also, Maurice Carlos Ruffin‘s “Beg Borrow Steal” will appear in the spring issue of the Kenyon Review.
Also, we’re happy to note that friend-of-Peauxdunque (and mentor to several of us through his direction of the Creative Writing Workshop at UNO and the Yokshop Writing Workshop) M.O. Walsh is celebrating the release today of his excellent debut novel, My Sunshine Away, by G.P. Putnamn’s Sons. Emily Choate reviewed My Sunshine Away recently for Chapter 16.org. It’s an excellent and fascinating novel, so buy it and read it.
Peauxdunquian Maurice Carlos Ruffin will have a new story, “Ms. Anne’s Garden,” published in New Delta Review. Publication is expected in early May 2015!
Peauxdunque’s Cassie Pruyn has a new publication upcoming at The Normal School. Her poem, “Shotgun Haunting,” will appear in their next issue, so keep an eye out for it!
Peauxdunque is proud to boast two Pushcart Prize nominees among its members this year! Founding Peauxdunquian Maurice Carlos Ruffin has been nominated by The Knicknackery, which published his story, “Heathen,” in its Issue Two. And Caroline Goetze, the newest denizen of Peauxdunque, has been nominated by Quaint Magazine for her story, “The Night Baker,” published in that magazine’s inaugural issue.
Congratulations, Maurice and Caroline!
On Thursday this week, November 20, the annual Words & Music Conference kicks off at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans, featuring a number of award-winning writers, as well as a strong cast of editors and agents. Also, at the 3:45 session on Thursday, several Peauxdunque writers have been selected to join in a reading of new works.
Amy Conner, author of the new novel, The Right Thing, will be mistress of ceremonies for the event. Among those invited to read are Maurice Carlos Ruffin, winner of the Faulkner Society’s 2014 gold medal for Novel-in-Progress for All of the Lights, Kay Sloan, the 2014 winner of the Novella gold medal for Give Me You, and the winner of the Short Story gold medal, N. West Moss, for Omeer’s Mangoes, who was also a runner-up in the Novel-in-Progress category, who will be reading excerpts from their winning work. Others invited to read are Terri Stoor, a previous short story gold medal winner, and Andy Young, a previous gold medal winner for poetry, who has a spectacular new collection out, All Day It Is Morning. Competition finalists Tad Bartlett, J. Ed Marston, and Emily Choate, will also be reading, along with Mary Helen Lagasse, prizewinning author of The Fifth Sun, who will read from her new book, Navel of the Moon, scheduled for 2015 release. Event is included in writers and sponsors packages. There will be a cash bar.
In publication news from Peauxdunque, we’re happy to announce that Maurice Carlos Ruffin‘s story, “The Boy Who Would Be Oloye,” has been accepted for publication by Massachusetts Review; and that AGNI Online has accepted for publication Cassie Pruyn‘s poems, “Love Lost Lounge” and “Maine Morning, Age 5.”
“The Boy Who Would Be Oloye” was recently named a finalist in the short story category of the William Faulkner-William Wisdom writing competition (Maurice was named the winner of the novel-in-progress category of that competition and the first runner-up in the essay category). “Love Lost Lounge” was a finalist in the poetry category of that competition this year.
Many congratulations!
The final results in all categories of the 2014 William Faulkner-William Wisdom writing competition (run in conjunction with the excellent Words and Music writers’ conference) have been announced, and Peauxdunque is proud to be the home of a new gold medalist: Maurice Carlos Ruffin has won the gold medal in the novel-in-progress category for his work, All of the Lights! (Peauxdunque’s previous gold medalists areTerri Shrum Stoor in the short story category in 2011, and Emilie Staat in the essay category in 2012). Of All of the Lights, category final judge M.O. Walsh observed:
All of the Lights is more than a novel in progress. It is an absolute gift. The story of a black lawyer in an all-white firm, battling personal demons and marital challenges, racism and the complications of ambition, this is a novel with every level of conflict you could ask for: internal, external, familial, racial, social, immediate, and looming. Yet, in spite of this, All of the Lights also manages to be quickly paced and funny. It feels heartfelt and true because the author is the real deal and his characters—BL, Penny, and Nigel—are the benefactors of his skill. So, of course, are we. This is a novel to fly through once for pleasure and then return to savor the little things you may have missed; all the gems scattered about in the author’s clear prose and insight. Ruffin seems to know what makes us human, what makes us interesting, and a book like All of the Lights, the promise of it, is the reason I read. I’ll be shocked if we don’t see this one on bookshelves soon.
Competition coordinator Rosemary James added that, in the novel-in-progress category, “All preliminary round judges selected one entry as the standout, as their first choice. … [A]ll of them sent back words to the effect: ‘All of the Lights is the clear winner.'”
Maurice also won second place in the essay category, with his essay, “A History in Motion.” Final round judge Jane Satterfield wrote, “The vivid and resonant prose of A History in Motion reveals a writer’s fierce ambition to survive and transcend a parent’s suffering, as well as heartfelt tenderness and hope despite the disquieting signs surrounding him.” The essay is already slated for publication in an upcoming Cicada magazine.
In the short story category, Peauxdunquian Emily Choate won third place for her story, “Sky Fire Shrine Machine”! Final round judge Patrick Samway commented:
This story dramatically relates how Nadine comes to terms with the previous amorous relationships of her co-worker Brant, as they sell fireworks whose names provide a wonderful description of their increasingly tense relationship: Incoming!, Napalm Rampage, Exploding Night Arsenal, and Last Chance. Such explosive pyrotechnic devices provide a wonderful comment on the structure of this story.
Other Peauxdunque finalists in the short story category were Tad Bartlett for his story, “Flock Apart,” and Maurice, with his story, “The Boy Who Would Be Oloye.” Emily‘s story, “Eufala,” was on the short list for finalists in the category, along with Tad‘s story, “Superpowerless.”
In the novel category, Peauxdunque’s J.Ed. Marston and Tad Bartlett were finalists with their collaborative novel, The Truth Project.
J.Ed. was also a finalist in the poetry category, for his piece, “Saturday Stops.” Peauxdunque’s Cassie Pruyn, the second-runner-up in the category in 2013, had another finalist poem this year with her piece, “Lost Love Lounge.”
The announcement with full results is here: 2014_Winners
More Peauxdunque out in the world, as April Blevins’s essay, “A History We Can Live With,” will be published in an upcoming issue of Arcadia. Looking forward to seeing April’s work in such a great magazine!
Once again, it’s the time of year when the lists of finalists, short-list for finalists, and semi-finalists are released for the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Writing Competition, held in conjunction with the annual Words & Music Conference put on by the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society. And once again, there is heavy Peauxdunque representation on the lists.
Five Peauxdunquians are responsible for eight different finalist pieces in five different categories. Tad Bartlett and J.Ed. Marston have a collaboratively written manuscript named a finalist in the novel category. Maurice Ruffin has a manuscript finalist in the novel-in-progress category, and another piece that’s a finalist in the essay category. Emily Choate, Tad, and Maurice each have stories that are finalists in the short story category. And Cassie Pruyn and J.Ed. both have pieces that are finalists in the poetry category (Cassie was second runner-up in that category in 2013).
Also, Emily and Tad each had additional short stories that were named to the short list for finalists in that category. Final winners and runners-up among the finalists in all categories are scheduled to be named on or around September 25, Faulkner’s birthday, so stay tuned!
Peauxdunque Writers Alliance 