Results day!

Well, we cut it close, but we got the contest results posted today. Next time, we really should set a self-imposed deadline two weeks prior to the results deadline so the winners don't have to do such a frantic turnaround with their bios and pictures. Many, many thanks to the winners for getting us their information on such short notice.

The funny thing about judging these contests anonymously is that it's like Eliot and Ransom's (and all the rest's) New Criticism put into practice. (C'mon, don't let your eyes glaze over. Literary theory is kinda fun if you give it a chance.) See, those fellas said literature should be evaluated solely based on what's on the page. You should read and analyze a piece of writing without needing to know a thing about the author's biography, the work's historical context, etc. It was a democratizing idea at the time: no longer were those ivory-tower experts' opinions about a piece of writing any more valid than any other readers'.

Whether you agree with this approach or not (and it has fallen out of favor in the last 40 or so years), it's exactly what we do when we read submissions. In fact, it's what all writing contest judges should be doing. Entries come in with no author-identifying information, and we have no idea who wrote them when, where, how, or why. We just go by the words on the page.

So it's always interesting to see who is behind the entries and learn a bit of their stories, as it really does add depth to our appreciation for the writing. This time, all three happen to be female and all relative newcomers to novel writing. Brian and I are thrilled to be able to provide this small bit of validation to these very talented women early on in their writing careers. We hope it helps propel their work, and we are confident that they'll go far.