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The 2010 Pen Parentis Writing Fellowship for New Parents:

Summary:

In addition to a full year of promotion, a $1000 prize will be presented to the Pen Parentis Writing Fellow at a public reading of the winning work of fiction at the September 14th, 2010, Pen Parentis Literary Salon in Manhattan (with acclaimed authors Jennifer Egan and Darin Strauss.) All entrants are encouraged to attend this free event. No reservations or tickets are required.

~ Submissions for 2010 are closed. ~

Fellowship Awarded:

2010 Pen Parentis Fellow Abby Sher (see bio)

We have chosen a winner for the first-ever Pen Parentis Fellowship for New Parents— Abby Sher from Brooklyn, NY! Jennifer Egan and Darin Strauss will present to our winner her $1000 Fellowship at the Pen Parentis Literary Salon on September 14, 2010. Alongside these two extraordinary authors, who continue to write beautiful fiction despite
the demands of parenthood, Abby--herself a mother of a toddler and pregnant with her second child--will read her winning entry, MRI, a truly twisted and glorious family portrait which manages to be both moving and funny. Congratulations, Abby—we look forward to meeting you.

We have also chosen two honorable mentions, Merritt Tierce from Iowa, and M. Dumbleton from Illinois. To celebrate their excellent writing, these two authors will be offered free membership to Pen Parentis for a year, once we launch the official Pen Parentis site. We have also decided to also make public our complete shortlist on our website at penparentis.org. Making a selection was difficult, as all the entries had
value—but nine stories really stood out, either for technical expertise, for character, for setting, for voice, for language, or simply because the narrative ultimately moved us. Congratulations to all who entered—the judging was extremely difficult as the writing was of high quality and spanned the entire spectrum from narrative verse to elegiac memoir.

We thought you might be interested in some of the post-judging analytics of the entries. (Judging was entirely blind, with entries identified only by number.)

First: of 71 total entries, at least 53 were female (this does not count authors that use initials or have androgynous names). This is staggering given industry statistics that the vast majority of published books are by men. So what’s the story? Why so many more women entering this contest than men? We were fascinated.

Second: More than 3/4 of the entries were from outside the greater New York City area, though we are based in Manhattan. Entries came in from as far away as France and Hawaii, with many from California, the Deep South, and the Midwest. But none from Canada. And only two from New Jersey.

Third, here’s the breakdown of family size:

• 27 entrants had one child under 10
• 37 had two children under 10
• 5 had three children under 10
• And 2 had four or more kids under ten
  (we salute you--give us your secrets for writing with that many kids needing attention!)
  

Congratulations once again, Abby Sher, and to all the contest entrants, as always, keep writing.