JUDGE

Max Brooks is the author of over 20 books, including World War Z, Minecraft: The Island, The Zombie Survival Guide and Devolution. Brooks received his bachelors degree in history from Pitzer College, and his masters degree in film from American University. Brooks’ writing portfolio has also included Saturday Night Live from 2001-2003 and The Great Wall film in 2016. In addition to writing, Brooks has also worked as an actor. His works include (either as an actor or a voice actor) Roseanne, Batman Beyond and Justice League.

FIRST PLACE

Diana Bletter is the author of several books, including the novel A Remarkable Kindness and a National Jewish Book Award finalist, The Invisible Thread: A Portrait of Jewish American Women. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and more. A former New Yorker and a graduate of Cornell University, Diana lives in a small beach village in Western Galilee, Israel, with her husband and family.

SECOND PLACE

Joan Mora attended Oxford University’s summer program in creative writing, Iowa Summer Writing Festival’s intensive novel writing workshop, and the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference fiction workshop. Cofounder of the memorialized What Women Write, a blog dedicated to writing craft, book reviews and author interviews, she has also contributed to the Ploughshares blog. Her most recent work is the novel that inspired this short story, a Depression-era coming-of-age tale, featuring a Jewish bootlegger’s cross-eyed daughter and her unlikely friendship with a 90-year-old Civil War veteran. Mora is also the author of The Lost Legacy of Gabriel Tucci. Originally from Maryland, Joan currently lives in Dallas, Texas.

THIRD PLACE

Phil M. Cohen is an award-winning novelist and short-story writer and an ordained rabbi who holds a Ph.D. in Jewish thought and an MFA in fiction. He is the author of more than 20 published stories and of the eBook Lucky 13. Cohen lives in Greensboro, North Carolina with his wife Betsy and two dogs.

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