First Place: Linden Dalecki, "The B-Boys of Beaumont"
Linden Dalecki recently expanded his short story "The B-Boys of Beaumont" into a young-adult hip-hop-oriented novel titled
Kid B: 3rd Coast. He made it to the semifinal in the 2003 Nicholl Fellowship for his Native American-themed feature-length screenplay,
Running Elk. He recently directed "Breakin' Away," a 22-minute Texas B-boy documentary, as well as the narrative short "Blue on Blue," a cops-and-crime short set in a Houston "screwed and chopped" shop. He is currently developing "Blue on
Blue" into a feature-length urban thriller. Before moving to Texas, Linden was an advertising copywriter in Washington, D.C., and Hong Kong. He also worked as a creative consultant for AirPlay Records (Paris) and as a naming consultant for Interbrand (New York). He has worked on a fish farm in Afula, Israel, and as a jackeroo (junior cowboy) in Australia's Northern Territory. Linden holds a B.A. in Radio-Television-Film from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and an M.A. in Radio-Television-Film from the University of Texas at Austin. He enjoys traveling internationally and once made his way from Turkey to Hong Kong using only trains and buses. His Eighties B-boy skills have long been atrophied.
Second Place: Garth Mueller, "Red, White, and Blue"
A transplanted Texan, Garth Mueller lives in Los Angeles where he writes screenplays, short fiction, and the occasional Petrarchan sonnet. He also produces short films, such as "99 Scents," which screened at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. He has a B.A. in English from Emory University and an M.F.A. in Film Production from the Florida State Graduate Film Conservatory.
Third Place: Ameni Rozsa, "Testosterone Rules"
Ameni Rozsa recently moved from Massachusetts to Austin to study fiction writing at UT's Michener Center for Writers. Her nonfiction has appeared online and – she admits, only once – on National Public Radio. She is at work on her first collection of short stories.
Honorable Mention: Spencer Driggers, "Melvin and Jeanie"
Spencer Driggers received his B.F.A. in Theatre Studies from Southern Methodist University and is a recipient of the Rosenfeld Award for Playwriting. He recently moved to Austin from New York City, where his plays
Emily,
hump day,
Aphrodite's Earrings, and
Down Roadside were produced. He's glad to be back in Texas, where the skies are wider, the people are warmer, and the beer is Shiner.
Honorable Mention: Jill Marquis, "Nut Goody Sets the Record Straight"
Jill Marquis earned an M.F.A. in creative writing at the University of Montana, and currently lives in New Orleans, where she teaches a class called Introduction to Engineering.
