We thought this story notable in part because it’s unusual to read an adventure story that is neither heroic nor triumphant. This is a more character-focused story, a tale of one man who’s struggling with his failed dream. Therolf wrote … Read more
We liked the ways that Goelman used the first person in this piece. The self-referencing advances the story; it’s not overdone. We liked the elegant descriptions of the olive harvest, its good verbs. The mention of one harvester’s injury by … Read more
The writing is snappy and the voice human in this slice-of-life piece about a couple and their fateful courtship. We liked the efficient movement from event to event, the sparing but effective use of concrete detail, the folksy language. The … Read more
This lovely, short narrative essay provides small and interesting details about a region we’re more likely to read about in news articles. The piece is also about how death creeped up on one man, in a land of religious stories. Read more
This story seems to have followed a recipe for compelling narrative: Take a heroic figure, add a group of “endangered children, let them struggle against great odds. Fold in current social issues and moral context. In the Hollywood version of … Read more
Writing an admiring piece about a likable character is sometimes challenging; the story can end up cloying, empty. In this piece Berg uses narrative and concrete evidence to build his case. Pablo Garza mopped floors at St. Joseph Hospital and … Read more
There’s a lot of engaging subtext in this piece; it’s a deft character study. Meckler writes in plain language but tells a complicated story, of family dynamics and psychological struggles. We admired her portrayal of the son Mark Foster’s filial … Read more
According to this series, 29 percent of elderly people who break a hip die within a year. This is higher than the one-year rate of death following a stroke. The series is very effective in highlighting this surprising problem in … Read more
We liked the focus in this piece on one patient, the very clear narrative and progression from scene to scene. We thought the use of the doctor’s internal soundtrack a good structural and thematic device. Overall it’s an affecting window … Read more
