Violet Crown Finalists

This week, the Austin Writers' League announced finalists for the 1998 Violet Crown Awards, an annual contest recognizing the best works published by Austin Writers' League members. Entrants submitted works published between August 1, 1997 and June 30, 1998 in one of three categories: fiction, nonfiction, and literary fiction: poetry or essay. The finalists are as follows, in alphabetical order:

• Fiction

  Randy Lee Eickhoff, The Fourth Horseman (Forge Books)

  Rick Riordan, The Widower's Two Step (Bantam Books)

  Rob Thomas, Doing Time: Notes From the Undergrad (Simon & Schuster)

• Nonfiction

  Raye Virginia Allen, Gordon Conway: Fashioning a New Woman (UT Press)

  Gerry Crystol, A Light in the Prairie (TCU Press)

  Lisa Wiseman, Pediatric Home Companion (Quality Medical Publications)

• Literary Fiction, Poetry or Essay

  Jack Brannon, Vigil (Abby Press)

  Don Graham, Giant Country: Essays on Texas (TCU Press)

  Americo Paredes, The Shadow (Arte Publico Press)

Judges have already decided who the winners are, but that information will not be released until September 19, 6:30pm, at a reception at Barnes & Noble Westlake, to which the public is, of course, invited. All three winners will receive $1,000. - C.S