Tucson writer Lee Anne Gallaway-Mitchell is among the winners in the fifth annual Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards Writing Competition.
First-, second- and third-place finishers in fiction, nonfiction and poetry were chosen by a panel of festival authors who will also be part of the Masters Workshop that follows the March 11-12 festival.
Gallaway-Mitchell won top honors in the nonfiction category for her essay “Good Lands of Mercy.”
Oxford, Ohio, writer Carrie Bindschadler won first-place in the fiction category for her magic-realist story “Tortoise.” Lynne Thompson, a Los Angeles-based writer, won in the poetry category for her collection “Genesis and Other Poems.”
First-place winners in each category receive $1,000. Second-place winners receive $500 and third-place winners $250.
All winners are awarded scholarships to the Masters Writing Workshop March 13-14 on the University of Arizona campus. The writing competition’s top 50 entrants are invited to attend the workshop, the faculty for which is drawn from the festival’s presenting authors. This year’s faculty:
- Mark Beauregard, author of “The Whale: A Love Story,” a novel about the writing of “Moby-Dick.”
- Dana Levin, author of “Banana Palace.” Her poems have appeared in Best American Poetry.
- Joyce Maynard, author of 16 books, including her latest, “Under the Influence.”
- Writer, director and producer Michael Tolkin, whose new novel is “NK3.”
- Monica Youn, whose poetry collection “Blackacre” was nominated for the National Book Award.
