Feats of skill and strength

I’ve just heard from the judges of the Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine that a poem, “The Anatomist,” was commended for the 2011 prize, as well as from the editors at the New Orleans Review that a short story of mine, “Reliable Source,” was shortlisted for the Walker Percy Fiction Contest. I’m very humbled by both honors, especially to share the page with so many other writers whose work I respect so much. As for the Review in particular, they do have a way with words, as my friend Nick put it: “I like the sound of ‘semi finals’ better than ‘shortlist’,” he said. “Brings out the sense of a tournament.”