As mentioned on this blog many times, I've submitted various articles over the years to the Florida Writers' Association's Royal Palm Literary Awards, which has a category for Nonfiction - Blogging.
Back in January, I had decided to submit five articles to see how well the judges accepted them:
- Irrational
- Hark! A Ranking of Nirvana Albums
- The Big Lie and the One Truth
- The Tragedy In Surfside
- Strange Days Inside the Job Lines
There's three rounds of judging: Semifinalist, Finalist, and Awards. FWA uses a rubric system where everything's graded, and anything over a certain score (say, 80 points) can be deemed a Semifinalist. It then goes through a second round of reading, and submissions reach Finalist over a tougher, higher score (say, 90 points). The Finalists then get invited to the annual conference banquet and wait to find out what scored the top three highest for the First, Second, and Third Place awards. There can be more than three finalists (could be five, could be twenty), so there can be some heartbreak if you don't get a trophy.
The good news, the banquet desserts are incredible.
Anywho, of the five I submitted, Irrational, Hark! A Ranking..., and Tragedy In Surfside passed the Semifinalist stage (whee).
Today I heard back from the judging coordinator that of those three...
Both achieved Finalist grades.
I'm a bit stunned the Surfside article didn't make it considering it was a somber take on the building collapse in South Florida, which I figured would be of regional interest. Also a little stunned Irrational has gotten as far as it had, although I do consider it one of my better blogging efforts in 2021 (well enough to have it for Batocchio's annual Jon Swift Roundup).
So, anyway, now I have to attend the annual conference and eat some sweet tasty dessert. (Yes, priorities matter) In the meantime, here's the Finalist banner I can show off for the rest of the year.
Update 10/29/22: Holy forking shirtballs, "Irrational" earned a Silver award (2nd Place)!
1 comment:
I think "Irrational" could win. Enjoy the dessert.
-Doug in Sugar Pine
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