©2007 Sirenland
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Sirenland Writers Conference Blog
Bob Natiello writes us from Arizona:
When Peggy and I entered Glendale Civic Center last Saturday night, we knew two of my stories had already been declared winners in Arizona Authors 29th annual literary contest. But we didn't know at what level. First? Second? Third? Honorable Mention? (The contest officials make it a practice of holding off the specifics until the formal dinner is over--the better to increase attendance.)
The dinner turned out to be far more fascinating than I expected. I sat next to an Arizona woman and her husband, a native of Afghanistan. Her book on her 10 years in Af'stan with him, their kids and his mother (who took care of the kids while she worked) won her a Pulitzer nomination. She held me spellbound with her tales of their food and customs. Then it came time for the awards.
I'm happy to say that my "El Caballo Blanco" took First Prize in Fiction.
My Memoir entry--"Jimimy Cricket" (you recall it was featured in the NY Times about a year ago) won Second Prize.
I also walked out with the most money--the princely sum of $150. Spread that amount over the number of hours I spent writing and editing these stories, and somebody's in serious violation of our Minimum Wage Laws.
We stayed overnight at our daughter's Scottsdale home and celebrated by taking Annie and David to a well earned Sunday morning breakfast.
Peggy and I are very poor photographers. Nevertheless, Peggy did get a shot of me at the mike. I'll scan it over in the next day or two.
If he ever gets around to sending the photo we'll post it here.
(Apparently the photo of Bob didn't come out very well, so we'll post this one of Bob doing his Dr. Evil impression by the pool at Le Sirenuse to make up for it)
Michael
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