Writers from Massachusetts, New Mexico and Alaska have won top prizes in the 2019 Literary Awards Writing Competition sponsored by the Tucson Festival of Books.
Those who won top awards in fiction, poetry and nonfiction will appear as presenting authors at the book festival, which will be March 2-3 at the University of Arizona.
The contest’s top 50 entrants have been invited to take part in the festival’s annual Masters Writing Workshop.
The festival received a record 693 entries from most of the United States and a number of countries overseas. Prize money totaling $5,200 will be distributed to the nine award winners.
Here are the three award winners in each genre category:
FICTION
- 1. “Corpse Walks Into a Bar” by Lesley Bannatyne, Somerville, Massachusetts.
- 2. “Wild Child” by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne, Iowa City, Iowa.
- 3. “Billboard” by David Munro, Tucson.
POETRY
- 1. “Trick of Light” and other poems by Janet Ruth, Corrales, N.M.
- 2. “The Fifth Circle of the Inferno” by Luis Lazaro Tijerina, Burlington, Vt.
- 3. “Your Skin Forgives Itself” and other poems by Margaux Griffith, Ypsilanti, Mich.
NONFICTION
- 1. “Hunger and Lies” by Cinthia Ritchie, Anchorage, Alaska.
- 2. “Owlgazing” by Bridget Lyons, Flagstaff.
- 3. “Resurrection of Marty” by D. Gilson, Lubbock, Texas.
