“Strivers and Other Stories” was the recent winner of the Washington Writers’ Publishing House fiction prize. The collection will be published by the press in November 2016.
Set primarily in the American South between the 1920s and the present day, STRIVERS AND OTHER STORIES explores a range of African-American and other voices reflecting characters striving towards their versions of the American dream. In 15 stories, we meet teachers and doctors, train porters and factory workers, soldiers and musicians; mothers, fathers, children and spouses; mentors and mentees. With a mix of humor and heart, satire and sentiment, this collection captures their everyday struggles for better lives and their hopes for promising futures.
Among the stories included in the collection:
Strivers
A Pullman Porter’s daughter ready’s herself for a debutant ball, alienating the bond she has with her father.
Setting: 1950s, Augusta, GA
Length: About 4,700 words
2nd Place, Short Fiction
2003 Sandhills Writers Conference, Augusta University
The Benefactress
A principal of a high school in the South makes an annual appeal to his school’s benefactress and faces compromising his ideals to keep the funds coming.
Setting: 1920s, New York City and Long Island
Length: About 3,140 words
Honorable Mention in Adult Fiction
18h Annual Larry Neal Writers’ Awards, Washington, DC
D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities
Assisted Living
As punishment, a teenaged girl is forced to take the task of visiting her principal’s elderly mother, who lives in an assisted living facility. The girl forms a quiet bond with the woman and in the process, learns a bit about herself.
Setting: Modern day, a Southern city
Length: About 3,050 words
2nd Place in Adult Fiction
29th Annual Larry Neal Writers’ Awards, Washington, DC
D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities
Lester is Late
A cancer diagnosis and a delayed card game brings about thoughts of mortality and an appreciate of life.
Setting: 1980s, a Southern city
Length: About 2,960 words
1st Place in Adult Fiction
19th Annual Larry Neal Writers’ Awards, Washington, DC
D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities
Just Desserts
After robbing a drunk suitor she met at a bar, Sarah manages to find her way back home and decides that bad things happen to those who deserve it.
Setting: Modern day, rural Georgia and Atlanta
Length: About 3,491 words
Some Get Back
Two bakery workers get revenge against an ornery boss.
Setting: 1930s, a Southern city
Length: About 3,415 words
Collier Road
A father seeks a better neighborhood for his young daughters.
Setting: 1970s, a Southern city
Length: About 3,500 words