The Texas Bar Journal Short Story Contest 2020
This is one issue that we—and many of our readers—particularly look
forward to. Storytelling is alive and well, and the Texas Bar
Journal relishes the opportunity to share some of it with you. We’d
like to extend an appreciative thank you to the 26 writers who submitted
entries to the 2020 competition.
To keep the contest fair and impartial, author names were removed from
each entry. Two panels of judges faced the challenging task of selecting
the winners, and for each round, the same evaluation form was used for
consistency. Ten entries advanced to the final round, which was judged
by Pamela Buchmeyer, of Dallas and Jupiter, Florida; last year’s winner,
Caryn L. Carson, of Dallas and Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Mike Farris,
of Dallas.
The winner, “Home”
by Brian Schmidt, earned the highest number of points.
We have published the first-place winner and the two stories that tied
for second place on the following pages. We hope you enjoy these
creative short stories as much as we did.
FINALISTS
Please congratulate these attorney-authors for making it through the
competitive first round of judging to the finals.
“Home,”
by Brian Schmidt (First Place)
“Wrecked
It,” by Robin Harris (Second Place Tie)
“Hattie,”
by Terri B. Moore (Second Place Tie)
“The Other Side of the Room,” by Michael E. Jimerson
“The Partners’ Meeting,” by Ron Uselton
“The Same Place,” by Kevin Faulkner
“Forty-five Years,” by Sohail “Ali” Hasanali
“Duck Hunting in Winter,” by Elizabeth Furlow
“All Things Being Equal,” by Frank Gonynor
“It’s 3 a.m. Do You Know Who You Are?,” by Erane LaSusa
