Our finalists: Bio and Photo

EYELANDS BOOK AWARDS  – FINALISTS 2019

(by submission order)

 

CATEGORY: POETRY /PUBLISHED

1.The Nurseryman – Arthur Allen / Scotland

Arthur Allen is an award-winning British-Canadian poet. He has studied creative writing at the University of Oxford, the University of East Anglia and is currently reading towards a PhD in poetry and semiotics of grief at the University of Edinburgh. His debut pamphlet Here Birds Are was published by Green Bottle Press, 2017 and his verse-novel The Nurseryman is available from Kernpunkt Press, 2019. His poetry has previously appeared in many publications including: Cake, Ambit, fillingStation, the Amsterdam Quarterly, the Irish Literary Review, the Bombay Review and the Mississippi Review.

2. Captain Fly’s Bucketlist – Agnes Marton / Luxembourg

Agnes Marton is a Hungarian-born poet, writer, librettist, Reviews Editor of The Ofi Press, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (UK). Recent publications include her collection ‘Captain Fly’s Bucket List’ and four chapbooks with Moria Books (USA). She won the National Poetry Day Competition in the UK, and an anthology she edited (‘Estuary: A Confluence of Art and Poetry’) won the Saboteur Award. Her work is widely anthologized, some examples: ‘Alice – Ekphrasis at the British Library’ , ‘Anthem: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen’. Her fiction was called ‘exceptional’ at the prestigious Disquiet Literary Contest (USA). In the award-winning poetry exhibition project ‘Guardian of the Edge’ 33 accomplished visual artists responded to her poetry. The opera duet based on her libretto (composer: Vasiliki Legaki) was premiered at the Hellenic Centre, London. In 2018 she opened an international poetry film festival in Athens with her poetry video ‘Stationary Hike’ followed by choral work using her words. She has been a resident poet at the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, on a research boat in the Arctic Circle, and also in Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Serbia, Greece, Canada and the USA. She is based in Luxembourg.
3./Blood Moon – Andrew Jarvis / USA
Andrew Jarvis is the author of The Strait, Landslide, and Blood Moon. He holds high honors from the Nautilus, INDIE Book of the Year, CIPA EVVY, and NextGen Indie Book Awards. Andrew holds an M.A. in Writing from Johns Hopkins University and has been writing poetry for more than 20 years. He is a naturalist and lives in Orlando, Florida.

 

 

 

 

4./Poems of the Void – Sreekanth Kopuri /India
Sreekanth Kopuri is a Telugu-speaking Indian English poet from Machilipatnam, India. Not by choice but accident, poetry was an enlightening encounter to him at a lunatic asylum, Visakhapatnam he visited for a social cause. His poetry attempts to retrace the lost way. It tries to play back the crucified voice of the Truth to the world from the debris that encompasses the entanglement of the Marxist proclamations, Existentialist reforms, the rising Saffron revolution and a legion of vociferous “isms”. The voice of silence and a re-presentation of timeless absences try to make a reconstructive harmony in a congested space of the terminal Earth. Kopuri gave poetry readings and presented his research papers at many universities like University of Oxford UK, John Hopkins University US, Heinrich Heine Germany and many others. He is the recipient of many awards for his poetry which was published in Heartland Review, A New Ulster, Wend Poetry, Word Fountain, Synaeresis, Vayavya, Impspired Ann Arbor Review and numerous others. His recent book Poems of the Void was published by Partridge Publishers USA & Singapore.  Kopuri had his schooling from Nirmala High School, Masters from Andhra University and PhD from Venkateswara University. He is presently a professor of English at Vasavi College, Machilipatnam where he lives with his mother.

 

5.How to grow matches – Sarah Leavesley / United Kingdom
Sarah Leavesley is a prize-winning poet, fiction writer, journalist and photographer, who fits life around writing and writing around life. Her poetry has featured in the Guardian, Financial Times, The Forward Book of Poetry 2016 and the Blackpool Illuminations. How to Grow Matches is available from Against the Grain Press https://againstthegrainpoetrypress.wordpress.com/shop/ and the Poetry Book Society https://www.poetrybooks.co.uk/products/how-to-grow-matches-by-s-a-leavesley.

6. Door of no return / Neal Hall /USA /
   Dr. Hall is a trained eye physician and graduate of Cornell and Harvard Universities.  An acclaimed poet, he has performed poetry readings throughout the U.S. and internationally. Dr. Hall is an award-winning author of six books of poetry.He is the winner of the 2019 Black Caucus of the American Library Association Best Poetry Book Award. Hall’s poetry speaks not just to the surface pain of injustice and inhumanity but deep into that pain, we label and package into genteel socio-political-economic-religious constructs to blur the common lines of cause, that is our shared story.The intellectual Cornel West said of Hall“[he] is a warrior of the spirit, a warrior of the mind, an activist, a poet. I sense Dr. Hall’s hypersensitivity to suffering – Martin, Malcolm and Jesus all had this hypersensitivity. His poetry has the capacity to change ordinary people’s philosophy on social and racial issues.”Hyderabad, India’s Vasanth Kannabiran, Chairperson, Asmita Resource Centre for Womenremarked: “This is poetry that scalds you into waking up to the possibility that you are perhaps one of those silent spectators. All in all he’s a poet. And unquestionably one of the most significant voices of the century.” http://www.nealhallpoet.co

 

CATEGORY: POETRY /UNPUBLISHED
1.At the foot of the mountain / TAK Erzinger / Switzerland
TAK Erzinger is an American/Swiss poet, artist and teacher with a Colombian background. Her poetry has been published by The Curlew, The Cirrus Poetry Review, The Beautiful Space Journal, The Mojave He[art] Review, The Avocet, The Rising Phoenix Review, I-70 Review and more. Her debut poetry collection entitled, “Found: Between the Trees” (Grey Borders Books 2019) is a chronicle about a life interrupted by mental illness. Its poems are a reflection on how love, nature and hiking nurtured and fostered an injured soul suffering from acute-childhood trauma and PTSD, leading to a path of redemption. This collection takes the reader on a journey of love, loss, forgiveness and healing. Her close relationship with nature and her struggles with PTSD feature prominently in her work. The themes in her poetry touch upon varying degrees of loss, forgiveness and healing, as well some environmental and social commentary.  She lives in a Swiss valley with her husband and two cats.

 2.Before, Bam, After and Beyond /– Frank Light / USA
On retirement from government service Frank returned to the love of writing that led, years ago, to an MFA in the creative writing of fiction. In recent years a number of his poems, stories, and essays have been published, many of the latter from a draft memoir titled Adjust to Dust: On the Backroads of Southern Afghanistan. In 2020 Finishing Line Press plans to publish his poetry chapbook titled “Far and Away.”

 

 

 

3.The trembling Tiber / Neal Hall

4.Window Spit / Alan David Pritchard / United Kingdom
Alan David Pritchard is a novelist, poet and playwright. His play ‘Genuis” won the Young Farmers Play Festival in Wales in 2000, and he was chosen as Poet of the Month by the then Poets Society of London in 2005. He was also invited to read his poetry at the Poets Café in Covent Garden in London in 2005. Additionally, his video poem ‘Like So’ was an official selection at the Visible Verse Poetry Festival in Vancouver, Canada in 2013. His novel, ‘The Pebble Champion’ won the Finalist Award at the Reader’s Favorite Book Awards in 2019. His first poetry collection, ‘Advancing Backwards’ features poems selected for publications in literary magazines, poetry anthologies and websites worldwide. ‘Window Spit’ is his second poetry collection and was described  as “an intoxicating look at today’s reality” by the author Rosie Malzier.

 CATEGORY:  MEMOIR–HISTORICAL FICTION/PUBLISHED

1.Nice Girls DO Travel /  Kathy Cuddihy / Ireland
For more than thirty years, I have been writing in various guises. What began with a syndicated newspaper column and magazine articles evolved into PR consultancy, and then into books. Of my eight published non-fiction works, two are humorous memoirs: Anywhere But Saudi Arabia (Barzipan Publishing, London, 2012) and Nice Girls DO Travel (Kindle Direct, 2019). I am currently finishing a second novel in a series about an Irish detective.I am a Canadian married to an Irishman. We have two grown children. After many years of globetrotting, my husband and I are now settled in beautiful West Cork, Ireland.

2. Walk Until Sunrise / Jade J. Maze / USA                                                                       Author, singer, composer, and educator Jade J. Maze was born in Minnesota and raised in California. She ran away from home at the age of fifteen, becoming a high school dropout, and went through some harrowing experiences. After spending many years as an internationally touring singer (jazz and pop), J.J. doubled back to get her GED and went on to graduate with honors in her undergrad and graduate college career. She has an MM in classical vocal performance from Northwestern University and splits her time between teaching voice and performing.

Her memoir Walk Until Sunrise, which recalls her runaway experience, has been described as “a literary tour de force” (Reader’s Favorite) and “a stunning memoir of loss and redemption” (The BookLife Prize). Walk Until Sunrise won first place in the 2018 Golden Aster Book World Literary Prize (Rome, Italy), second place for Best New Author in the 2018 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards (USA) and is a Red Ribbon Winner in the 2018 Wishing Shelf Book Awards, UK. She is thrilled to be recognized by the Eyelands Book Awards and is so thankful for the encouraging reception her story is receiving. Ms. Maze currently resides in the Chicagoland area.

3. Secrets of a Mariachi Violinist / D.R. Ransdell /USA
   D.R. Ransdell writes from Tucson, Arizona, where she enjoys good swimming weather most of the year. She writes contemporary novels featuring the Campanello sisters and a mystery series featuring mariachi violinist Andy Veracruz. Her musical memoir, Secrets of a Mariachi Violinist, recounts the challenge of learning to play folk music despite a lack of written music and a surplus of scheming colleagues. During the school season she teaches composition to second-language students at the University of Arizona and moonlights in a mariachi band. When vacation starts, she hits the road, leaving behind several mischievous cats. One of her favorite travel destinations is Greece, where she can devote afternoons to splendid beaches and evenings to bouzouki music. Please visit her at http://www.dr-ransdell.com.

 4.Rodanthe’s Gift – Yvonne Payne / United Kingdom

British author, Yvonne Payne enjoys a dual life between two very different homes. The first is in Wiltshire, England, where she enjoys easy access to family and walks in rolling green countryside. The other, her favourite, is in the backstreets of Kritsa, a traditional mountain village on the Greek island of Crete. While in Crete, Yvonne is an active member of the local international community, and a favourite pastime is leading group walks to share her love of the rugged landscape. The hard times of Ottoman oppression provide the setting for Yvonne’s first two historical novels, Kritsotopoula, Girl of Kritsa and Rodanthe’s Gift. After publishing her non-fiction guide, Explore Kritsa, Yvonne has returned to writing historical novels set in the area of Crete she knows so well.

5. Secrets of a Stewardess /Gretchen Ryan / United Kingdom                                         Born in South Africa, Gretchen Ryan grew up in a rural farming community. She spent a year at the Northwestern State University of Louisiana in the US on a tennis scholarship before returning to South Africa where she completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Pretoria. Straight after university, she joined South African Airways as an air hostess. Ten years later she left the airline and went into the corporate world, culminating owning her own events company before settling in the UK. She currently lives between Surrey and Cape Town with her husband and two children. She obtained a Masters Degree in Creative Writing at Kingston University, London and speaks five languages at various levels of proficiency – her aptitude for accents hugely exceeding grammatical ability!

 CATEGORY:MEMOIR–HISTORICALFICTION/ UNPUBLISHED

1. Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops / Allison Hong Merrill / USA

Allison was born and raised in Taiwan and immigrated to the U.S. at age twenty-two. That’s when she realized her school English wasn’t much help when asking for directions on the street or opening a bank account.

Allison holds an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and writes in both Chinese and English. She is the Grand Prize winner of the Life Story writing contest in Taiwan, and the Grand Prize winner of the 2019 MAST People of Earth writing contest. She’s also a Pushcart Prize nominee. Her essays won first place in the Segullah Journal writing contest and Honorable Mention in the 79th Annual Writer’s Digest writing contest. Her work can be found in the Life Story Anthology (Taipei, Taiwan), the Ensign Magazine, and Flying South Literary Magazine, among others.  Allison believes that everyone is created equal and should be treated accordingly. She also believes that we all have the gift to choose the kind of people we want to be. Choose to be kind is her motto. Allison is a model and an actress too. She lives in Utah, U.S.A. with her husband and their three sons.

2. Adjustment disorder — a Collection of Maladjusted Essays / Patrick Mondaca / USA

Patrick Mondaca served in Baghdad, Iraq as a Sergeant with the US Army in 2003. A graduate of Central Connecticut State University, he also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He won the Waterston Desert Writing Prize in 2018, and his writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, USA Today, and U.S. News & World Report. He lives in Clinton, Connecticut.

3. Unglued: A Bipolar Love Story-Jeffrey Zuckerman / USA

Jeffrey Zuckerman is a freelance editor from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is a former newspaper reporter, editor, and university writing instructor. For many years he directed the writing center at Walden University. In 2015, Jeff’s wife of thirty years experienceda late-onset episode of bipolar mania, the beginning of his own ungluing. Over the next four years he experienced despair, grief, resilience, and hope, chronicled in this memoir with humor and painful candor. A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jeff in earlier career pursuits was a social worker, barroom piano player, baseball stadium vendor, and short-order cook. He is a volunteer support-group facilitator with the National Alliance on Mental Illness. He spends too much time playing tennis, hiking, fishing, kayaking, cross-country skiing, and ice skating. Jeff and his wife have two adult children and one baby granddaughter, who delights them with her dry sense of humor.

4. The Man Who Got Out of Japan / Sophie Neville / United Kingdom

Sophie Neville became inadvertently well known as a child when she starred as Titty in the 1974 movie ‘Swallows and Amazons’. Forty years later she was persuaded to write ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’. As President of The Arthur Ransome Society, shespoke on BBC Radio, television news and at literary festivals while writing articles and forwards for books. Sophie spent her twenties working in television production, when she scriptedher own programmesand worked on’Doctor Who’,’Eastenders’and ‘My Family and Other Animals’. She thenbrought out two humorous memoirs: ‘Ride the Wings of Morning’ and ‘Funnily Enough’, which won 3rd prize in the International Rubbery Book Award.A speaker for Bible Society,Sophie contributed to the 2018 anthology‘Merry Christmas Everyone’and has given talks in Southern Africa where she lived for twelve years while working freelance for the BBC Natural History Unit.

In 2019, Sophie won an Eyelands’ Writers Retreat on Crete to develop an historical novel set on the island of Zanzibar. This isa sequel to her wartime romance, ‘The Man Who Got Out of Japan’,which is based on a true story of a Commonwealth Soldier she met in Kenya.

5. The Swimmer / David Tenenbaum / USA

David Tenenbaum is a professor and part-time novelist/screenwriter from Virginia Beach, VA. After having taught literature for 15 years, he found himself eager to try his hand on the production side of the craft. He’s written four books and ten scripts including three film projects that have reached the finals of screenwriting competitions. His latest movie, After School, a cautionary coming-of-age thriller, is currently in development with producer Jeff Bassetti. He’s very excited to have two of his novels in the running at the Eyelands Book Awards.

CATEGORY:CHILDREN BOOKS/GRAPHIC   NOVELS UNPUBLISHED

1. Peter, the Sea, and His Sister’s Disco Ball – Anthony Palazzo-Coetzer / United Kingdom

Anthony grew up in London and has worked in the UK renewable energy sector for many years. He has always had a keen interest in environmental issues and his passion for the environment was sparked during his travels of the world, where he saw how plastic pollution is affecting the whole planet. He now lives by the sea in Brighton and is married with two energetic young boys to entertain. During his long journeys to different jobs, he would often notice plastic bottles lining the roadside, which reminded him of the plastic waste he had seen on his travels. So he came up with the idea of a young boy who takes on the challenge of saving the sea from plastic pollution while making new friends on the way, and crafted ‘Peter, the Sea, and His Sister’s Disco Ball’

2. Florissant – P.H.C. Marchesi / USA

P.H.C. Marchesi is a college English professor specializing in Shakespeare and Renaissance drama. She teaches at a liberal arts college an hour from Atlanta, GA. Her academic research into the role of trees and forests in Shakespeare’s plays led to her discovery of how precious and rare old-growth forests are, and inspired her to write Florissant.  Before embarking on the young adult fantasy genre, she wrote two science fiction novels for middle grade readers, Shelby & Shauna Kitt and the Dimensional Holes and Shelby & Shauna Kitt and the Alterax Buttons, both of which were self-published and won Children’s Literary Classics gold awards. Marchesi is originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and has also lived in Austria and England. In the United States, she has lived in New York, Delaware, Colorado, Arizona, and (now) Georgia.

3. There’s an Elephant in my Swimming pool – Gretchen Ryan / United KingdomSee bio in memoir/historical fiction category
4. Teddy Wet My Bed – Vernae Coffee / USA

Vernae Coffee is a School Psychologist who has committed her professional and volunteer life to supporting children and families. Her various roles over the years as advocate for children, teacher, behavioral consultant, mother and grandmother have provided a litany of experiences to ignite her writing. Past volunteer roles as Head Counselor at Barefoot Republic Camp, and speaker at women and youth events have also contributed significantly to her life as a writer. She is the 2017 recipient of the Maya Angelou $10,000 Poetry Grant Award that supported her in funding Poetry Live Clubs and Camps at Jack Farrar Elementary School in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Several of her Poetry Live students wrote and submitted poems that were subsequently published.  While, Vernae has been writing since learning to form sentences, she only became a member of a writing community (“Left to Write”) and began submitting her work for publication two years ago. Vernae enjoys taking walks, humor and serving others. She is intentional about using her spoken and written words to encourage. She appreciates the simple things in life such as watching animals and nature unfold. Vernae resides in Tullahoma, Tennessee with her husband.

 Under the oak tree / Phil Ioannou / Canada

 CATEGORY:CHILDREN BOOKS/GRAPHIC   NOVELS PUBLISHED

1.Revenge of the Servants of the Gods /Judith Brulo / United Kingdom   

Born in 1951. I grew up in Leicestershire, UK and after graduating from the Guildhall School of Music, London, I worked, for many years, as a professional violist and teacher. Now, l live in North Warwickshire with my husband, Alex. My love of writing came initially through the need to create material for my Early Years music groups. But, most significantly, the inspiration for my stories came from my beautiful grandchildren, Kaia and Taio Bryan. Some of my stories were inspired by the family cats I have known but it was in Cyprus, where I lived for six years, that I encountered the magnificent vultures which inspired my griffon vulture adventure stories.

2. The Mystery of the Never-Ending Universe /Judith Brulo / United Kingdom

 3.Gangster School – Kate Wiseman / United Kingdom

Kate was a late starter at writing fiction. It wasn’t until her son left home for university that she stopped procrastinating and looking for reasons NOT to have a go at fulfilling her lifetime ambition. Her inspiration for her Gangster School series is her son, who used to alarm enquirers by telling them that he wanted to be an Evil Genius when he grew up. To date she has written four Gangster School novels, which have been published in quick succession in the UK, Holland and Germany. She has also signed a deal for the series with a Turkish publisher and they will commence publication next year. Kate works as an English tutor, mentors other writers and holds creative workshops in schools when she isn’t lost in her Work in Progress. She is a licensed mudlark and nothing makes her happier than wading and slipping along the mudbanks of the River Thames in London, looking for treasure. She is currently working on a series of books based on the adventures of a pair of nineteenth century mudlarks. Kate’s books have been shortlisted for several awards. She lives in Saffron Walden, near Cambridge, and is the servant of several cats.

 

4. Church-Walk-On-The-Beach – Diane Dowsing Robison /USA

Diane Dowsing Robison . . . is a writer and producer and lives Los Angeles with her incredible husband; truly the “wind beneath her wings.” Throughout their life together, a son, a daughter and five outstanding grandchildren have taken their blessings over-the-top — with each one loving the ocean as much as they do. Diane’s latest book, “Church-Walk-on-the-Beach,” is a story that effortlessly opens the door to spiritual communication in today’s life, and came about from a long walk by the sea with her youngest grandchildren. Diane always appreciated that she’d been raised in a home that supported spiritual growth; encouraging her to seek solutions every step along life’s path. But in today’s modern world, with all that we discuss with children, opening the door to a real conversation about a higher power is not easily shared. Because understanding our spiritual self is an ongoing quest, she designed this book to be shared by adults and children together. The sequel for “tweens” is on its way. In the entertainment industry, Diane has been a producer of major live events; specializing is awards shows, along with being the publisher/editor-in-chief of an industry magazine. She co-wrote the iconic book, A Martian Wouldn’t Say That with the late Leonard Stern, and recently finished the pilot to a television series she and her partner created. Their company has just completed the financing for an independent film they will produce next year in Malta, Italy and the United Kingdom.

5. Transcendence the Spirit Quest series, Book 1 – A. L. Waddington / USAL. Waddington was raised in the suburbs outside of Indianapolis, Indiana and always had a vivid and overactive imagination. She has a slight addiction to coffee and is a firm believer in the theory of organized chaos. She is the author of the EVE series and its spinoff, the Spirit Quest series that falls under the cross-genre of young adult, paranormal mysticism, time travel, romance, and historical fiction. When she is not lost in the world of her own creation, researching her latest creation, or buried in a book, she can be found hiking through the mountains and exploring the southwest region of the United States. She has her master’s in military psychology and is currently working on her doctorate in industrial organizational psychology. After recently moving to Arizona, has a new-found appreciation for Central Air Conditioning. She and her husband, Eric have four children and live in Phoenix with their daughters and two terror twin puppies.

 

CATEGORY: SHORT STORIES /UNPUBLISHED

1.End of Things / Gareth Shore/ United Kingdom

Gareth Shore: Despite trying to avoid being the cliché of a high school teacher with a perpetually unfinished novel, Gareth is a high school teacher with a perpetually unfinished novel (albeit a lot less unfinished now, with the first draft completed!) Hailing from Manchester, England, Gareth’s continuing mission is to convince teenagers that writing is good for the soul. With help from innumerable library books, genre films and the guiding light of Ray Bradbury, he discovered a love of the weird and wonderful at a very early age and still refuses to let real life get in the way. Gareth counts having several of his short stories being adapted by website Chilling Tales for Dark Nights (including ‘The Mourner’ – currently at over 90,000 views) as his proudest literary achievement so far. His fiction has also been published by UK national monthly magazine SFX as part of their ‘Pulp Idol’ competition, appeared in the Henshaw Press’ ‘Henshaw Two Anthology’ and features on the ‘Ripples In Space’ website.

 

2./ This is Exhibit B  – D.R.Hill/ United Kingdom

D.R.Hill is originally from Birmingham, UK and has a degree in Drama and English from Hull University. He worked as a theatre director (Associate Director, Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham and Artistic Director, Theatre Station Blyth) before founding and establishing ArtReach (www.artreach.biz) as an international Creative Producer and Cultural Consultancy. Over twenty years ArtReach has emerged as a major force in UK arts festival delivery, developing the brands of Journeys Festival International and Night of Festivals which are delivered annually in five cities in England. ArtReach has also been responsible for producing the world’s largest interactive video artwork, UnderScan by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, which it presented across the East Midlands of England and in Trafalgar Square, London. Hill has initiated and directed four collaborative artistic projects across Europe and recently created the LIBERTY project with 12 partners across 10 countries. He has written for theatre, both as a solo writer and collaborator, and has produced a body of short stories. D.R. Hill is currently Chair of the charity Play to the Crowd, which encompasses Theatre Royal Winchester and was Vice Chair of Leicester Theatre Trust (Curve Theatre) for seven years. He is married with two sons and lives in Maidenhead, Berkshire.

3./ A Brief History of Misanthropy – Dean Gessie

4./ Tales of the Anointed Skeletons and Love / Lahari Mahalanabish(Chatterji)/ India

Lahari Mahalanabish(Chatterji)’s book of poems entitled One Hundred Poems had been published by Writers Workshop, India in 2007. She had been a finalist at Erbacce Prize Poetry Competition in 2009 and also in 2010. Her short stories have appeared in various literary magazines like The Bombay Review, The Bangalore Review, Soft Cartel, Muse India, Himal Southasian, Spark, Indian Review, The Criterion, Ashvamegh and newspapers such as The Statesman and The Asian Age. Her poems have found place in Yellow Chair Review, Poets Online, Saw, The Statesman and The Hans India. A software engineer by profession, she also engages in blogging(https://theserpentacursedrhyme.blogspot.com/) to chronicle her travels, describe the antics of her little daughter, express her views on socially relevant issues and narrate her experiences as a voluntary worker associated with an orphanage, a blind home and a rural empowerment initiative. She draws inspiration for her fictions and poems from all these pursuits and involvements.

5.A Perfect Day to Die / Yoko Morgenstern / Germany

Yoko Morgenstern is originally from Tokyo, Japan. She became fascinated by English literature while she was living in Canada, and started writing fiction herself. Her short stories and essays have appeared in various American and Canadian journals, such asThe Great Lakes Review,The Montreal Review, and The Globe and Mail, among others.“The Comedian,”published in Flash Fiction Onlinein 2018, has been featured in “21 flash fiction stories to read” by BOOKRIOT.

Since 2016, Yoko is a regular contributor to Newsweek Japan. She is the author of Double Exile (Red Giant Books, Cleveland) andEigo-no-Zatsudanryoku (Gento-sha, Tokyo). Her Japanese translation of The Ghost Brush(aka The Printmaker’s daughter) by the Canadian novelist Katherine Govier was long-listed for the Japan Translation Award in 2015. She received aB.A. in Political Science from the University of Tsukuba, Japan; aPost-graduate Diploma in Canadian Journalism from Sheridan College, Oakville, Ontario; and anM.A. in English Literature from the University of Bamberg, Germany. She is an official member of P.E.N. Japan and Die Kogge (European Authors Association). Currently, she lives in Nuremberg, Germany

CATEGORY: SHORT STORIES /PUBLISHED

1.Making Love While Levitating Three Feet in the Air / Jeff Fearnside / USA

Jeff Fearnside is an award-winning author in several genres whose work focuses strongly on place, culture, and the natural environment. His short-story collection Making Love While Levitating Three Feet in the Air, a finalist for the New Rivers Press MVP Award and for the Permafrost Book Prize in Fiction, is published by the Stephen F. Austin State University Press.

Fearnside’s writing has been nominated for Best New American Voices, The Best Small Fictions, and three times for a Pushcart Prize. Among several competitive writing fellowships he has received are residencies at the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest in Clermont, Kentucky, and the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains. Other awards for his writing include a Grand Prize in the Santa Fe Writers Project’s Literary Awards Program and the Mary Mackey Short Story Prize, and he is the recipient of an Individual Artist Fellowship award from the Oregon Arts Commission. His fiction has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including Story, The Pinch, Rosebud, Bayou Magazine, Crab Orchard Review, Fourteen Hills, Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction from a Small Planet (Press 53) and Out of Many: Multiplicity and Divisions in America Today (Cat in the Sun Press). Photo taken by Sabina Poole for the Oregon Arts Commission.

2.Neighbours and Tourists / Ewa Mazierska / United Kingdom

Ewa Mazierska is historian of film and popular music, who writes short stories and creative nonfiction in her spare time. She published over forty of them in ‘The Fiction Pool’, ‘Literally Stories’, ‘Ragazine’, ‘ ‘BlazeVox’, ‘Red Fez’, ‘Away’, ‘The Bangalore Review’, ‘Shark Reef’, ‘Toasted Cheese’, ‘Queen Mob’s Teahouse’, ‘Verity La’ and ‘Mystery Tribune’, among others.  In 2019 she published her first collection of short stories, ‘Neighbours and Tourists’ (New York, Adelaide Books). Ewa is a Pushcart nominee and her stories were shortlisted in several competitions. She was born in Poland, but lives in Lancashire, UK.

 3.The Elfin Stone and other stories / Sarah Crabtree  / United Kingdom

I was so excited to learn my book of short stories had been selected as a finalist in the Eyelands International Book Awards 2019. I would like to thank you for the opportunity to submit my book, and also for reading my stories. I am a full-time writer, and my work covers a variety of genres. Earlier this year, I published my first picture book, “The Other Yellow Dinosaur”, available on Amazon. I have a Christmas story online with Fairlight Books and a new story will be published in the February 2020 issue of Woman’s Weekly Fiction. I am currently working on an historical novel and future plans include a collection with the working title “Stories from around the World”. May I pass on my good wishes to all entrants and congratulations to the finalists.

4.This Paradise / Ruby Cowling / United Kingdom

5.Calls to Distant Places – Peter Jordan / United Kingdom
Peter Jordan is a short story writer from Belfast. He has won the Bare Fiction prize, came second in the Fish, and was shortlisted for both the Bridport and the Bath short story prizes. His work has received various awards, including three Arts Council grants. Over 50 of his stories have appeared in literary magazines, journals and anthologies. His short story collection, Calls to distant places, was released in August 2019. He can be found on Twitter @pm_jordan. His website address is surfmyshorts.com

 

 

CATEGORY: NOVELS/UNPUBLISHED

1.That Which Remains –  S. K. Kruse/ USA
Sandra Kaye Kruse lives in the rolling, wooded hills of the Driftless in Southwest Wisconsin, USA, with her husband, children, chickens, geese, and cat. She enjoys spending time with her family, reading, dancing, writing, gardening, exploring, vintage shopping, trying new whiskeys, and listening to Pink Floyd. She graduated from UW-Madison and has won awards for her writing from the National League of American Pen Women and New Millennium Writings.

2.The Cruelty Man /Jack O’Donnell / Scotland

 

 

3. All Things Nice – Cressida Evans / Brazil

Cressida Evans is a Welsh writer living in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, who writes flash fiction, short stories, novellas and scripts. She has spent a large part of her life travelling and living abroad and is interested in how cultures blend and clash and how folklore, history and landscape shape lives, particularly those of women.  These are some of the themes addressed in “All Things Nice”. The germ of the story grew out of the recent horror film “Hereditary” and a visit to London’s Museum of Childhood, which led the author to reflect on the repellent fascination of dolls houses and how they have been used to limit little girls’ imaginations over the years. Cressida Evans’ short story The Bed was published in the Rattle Tales Short Story Anthology 2017 and her flash fiction Not an Egg was published by The Flexible Persona in January 2019.

4. DoveLion: A Fairy Tale For Our Times – Eileen R. Tabios / USA

Eileen R. Tabios has released over 50 collections of poetry, fiction, essays, and experimental biographies from publishers in 10 countries and cyberspace. In 2020 she will release her second short story collection, PAGPAG: The Dictator’s Aftermath in the Diaspora (Paloma Press, U.S.A.). To date, she has worked mostly as a poet and her body of work includes invention of the hay(na)ku poetic form as well as a first poetry book, BEYOND LIFE SENTENCES (1998), which received the Philippines’ National Book Award for Poetry. DOVELION is her first long-form novel. Her books include a form-based “Selected Poems” series which focus on the prose poem, the catalog or list poem, visual poetry, and tercets; she issues “Selecteds” based on poetry form in order to show how she expanded a form’s landscape. She’s also released the first book-length haybun collection, 147 MILLION ORPHANS (MMXI-MML); a collection of 7-chapter short and experimental novels, SILK EGG; an experimental autobiography, AGAINST MISANTHROPY; as well as two bilingual and one trilingual editions. Her writing and editing works have received recognition through awards, grants and residencies. More information is available at http://eileenrtabios.com

5.Cuckoo – Angela Pertusini/ United Kingdom

6. Old scores – Robin Martin/ USA

Robin Luce Martin has received honors for stories and novel manuscript excerpts including the Tennessee Williams Festival Story Prize (judged by Richard Ford) and published in New Orleans Review,Dundee International Book Prize Shortlist, San Francisco PEN John Keats Soul Awakening Competitions, New Millennium, Adanna Adrienne Rich Tribute, Alabama Conclave, Faulkner Society, Del Sol First Novel Shortlist. “Exposure” was shortlisted in the 2015 Eyelands International Story Contest and published in the anthology, Borderline Stories. She is a recipient of a Norton Island Residency Fellowship, a Peripatetic Fellowship, and has won scholarships to Community of Writers Squaw Valley, Wesleyan Writers Conference, Aspen Summer Words, Key West Literary Festival, and others.  Most recently, “On the Street Where We Live,” a play co-written with Kelly Fordon, was published in Kenyon Review.Before writing, she worked as an actress, most visibly for two seasons on the television series Knots Landing. Her favorite theatrical experience was playing opposite Ed Harris in “Cowboy Mouth” by Sam Shepard & Patti Smith. She is the co-founder of #YeahYouWrite,  a monthly author reading series in NYC. From 2001-2018, She worked with the U.S. legal organization leading the struggle against torture. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Bruce McClure.

7. The Lost Tide / David Tenenbaum / USA
   see bio in other category
   

 

CATEGORY: NOVELS/PUBLISHED

1.Drafts of a Suicide Note – Mandy-Suzanne Wong / Vermuda

Bermudian author Mandy-Suzanne Wong was the 2018 winner of the Eyelands International Flash Fiction Contest. Her internationally acclaimed novel, Drafts of a Suicide Note (Regal House, USA, 2019), was an American Book Fest 2019 Best Book Award finalist, a Permafrost Book Prize finalist, a Conium Review Book Prize semifinalist, a Santa Fe Writers’ Project Literary Award shortlistee, and a PEN Open Book Award nominee. Her other award-winning titles include Awabi (Digging Press, USA, 2019), winner of the Digging Press Chapbook Series Award; Artificial Wilderness (Selcouth Station Press, UK, 2020), winner of the Selcouth Station Environmental Chapbook Competition; and Listen, we all bleed (New Rivers Press, USA, 2021), a finalist for the Red Hen Women’s Prose Prize. She is also the author of the essay collection Animals Across Discipline, Time, and Space (McMaster Museum of Art, Canada, 2020). In addition to her monthly column at Manqué Magazine, she has published work in Eyelands, Entropy, The Spectacle, Waccamaw, Quail Bell, The Deck Hand, and several other venues.

2.The Dream Circle – Máire Malone/ Ireland

Máire Malone was born and reared in Dublin where she worked as a medical secretary.  She moved to the UK where she obtained an honours BA in Arts and Psychology.  For over twenty years she followed a career in Counselling & Psychotherapy.  Several of her poems have been selected and published by Ver Poets and other anthologies.  She has had short story prize wins in Scribble magazine. A story was shortlisted in Words and Women Competition, 2018.   She was selected for a place on the Novel Studio Course in 2017 where she completed a draft of her debut novel.  An excerpt and synopsis of The Dream Circle was shortlisted in Adventures in Fiction – New Voices Competition 2018 and proclaimed to be ‘a particularly strong contender’ by the judges. The Dream Circle has featured in The Irish Post, The Irish Echo, New York (published an essay about her novel) and Irish American Newspaper this year.She had a flash fiction about Dublin selected for an Anthology, launched in June 2019, entitled ‘Story Cities – A City Guide for the Imagination.’ (Published by Arachne Press). ‘Story Cities’ explore ways in which stories respond to, reflect and re-imagine the city.Máire’s website address is http://www.mairemalone.com.

 3.Follies, Fools and Garlands / E.C.Gardiner /United Kingdom
E.C.Gardiner has worked for various organisations in countries of continental Europe, and has held a senior academic post in an English university. Under an adoptive name given in childhood has published and edited non-fiction books, together with essays and articles in books and journals. Academic work was recognised in the English Association award of a Founding Fellowship.

4.Lily Poole / Jack O’Donnell / Scotland

5.Being Lena Levi – Bobbie Ann Coler/ United Kingdom

The inspiration for Bobbie Ann Cole’s debut novel, Being Lena Levi, was the Bible story of two mothers who come before King Solomon, both claiming the same baby. Solomon orders that the child be cut in two. But the real mother steps forward, ready to give him up and let the other mother have him. This got her wondering what it takes to give up a child, as well as what it might be like to be that child. The book is set in post-War Canterbury, England and in the newly formed state of Israel. Bobbie has lived and worked in Israel with her husband, Butch, a Canadian. They now live in Canterbury, England, where she is a speaker, teacher and storyteller, as well as a writer. Her first two books, both memoirs, became Amazon no.1 bestsellers. She has three grown-up children.

6.Guantanamo Redux – Dean Gessie /Canada
Dean Gessie is an author and poet who has won multiple international prizes. Dean won the Angelo Natoli Short Story Award in Australia and the Half and One Literary Prize in India. Dean also won the Bacopa Literary Review Short Story Competition in Florida, the Enizagam Poetry Contest in Oakland, California and the After Dinner Conversation Short Story Competition in Arizona. Elsewhere, Dean won the short story contest at the Eden Mills Writers Festival in Canada and he was selected for inclusion in The Sixty Four Best Poets of 2018 by Black Mountain Press in North Carolina. In addition, Dean won second prize (of 2000+ submissions) in the Short Story Project New Beginnings competition in New York and his short story made the shortlist (of 2800+ submissions) for the Alpine Fellowship Prize in Stockholm, Sweden. Dean’s prose and poetry have appeared in numerous anthologies around the world. He has also published three novellas with Anaphora Literary Press in Texas. Tongo Eisen-Martin, shortlisted for the Griffin International Poetry Prize and a California Book Award, described Gessie’s work as, “Genius with a pocketful of broken fetters.”

 

7. Fukushima Dreams – Zelda Rhiando/ United Kingdom

Zelda Rhiando lives in South London with her husband, two daughters and four cats, and is one of the founders of the Brixton BookJam – the quarterly literary event that has hosted readings by established and emerging writers since 2012. She is the author of two novels, Caposcripti and Fukushima Dreams, and is currently working on a third. When not writing she can be found child-wrangling and making digital products. @badzelda | badzelda.com

 

 

 

 

8. The Threat Level Remains Severe – Rowena Macdonald/ United Kingdom

Rowena Macdonald’s debut novel, The Threat Level Remains Severe (Aardvark Bureau/Gallic Books) was shortlisted for the Guardian’s Not the Booker Prize, and her debut collection, Smoked Meat (Flambard Press) was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize. She works at the House of Commons and lives in London.

 

FINAL RESULTS ON DECEMBER 20th 2019