The Best American Newspaper Narratives, Volume 7

Book excerpt: This anthology collects the ten winners of the 2019 Best American Newspaper Narrative Writing Contest, run by the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference. The event is hosted by the Frank W. and Sue Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism at the University of North Texas. The conference launched the competition to honor exemplary narrative work and to encourage narrative nonfiction storytelling at newspapers across the United States. First place winner: Eli Saslow, “It Was My Job, and I Didn’t Find Him” (The Washington Post), narrates the life of Scot Peterson, the former officer at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, who faced public scrutiny in the wake of the school shooting. Second place: Elizabeth Bruenig, “What Do We Owe Her Now?” (The Washington Post), is the story of Amber Wyatt, a high school rape victim and the investigation without prosecution or even an arrest. Third place: Hannah Dreier, “The Disappeared” (ProPublica), follows the painful journey of a mother who lost her 15-year-old son to gang violence in a Long Island, New York, community. Runners-up include Jamie Thompson, “Standoff” (The Dallas Morning News); Lane DeGregory, “Lincoln’s Shot” (Tampa Bay Times); Jenna Russell, “The World, the Stage, the Way Ahead” (The Boston Globe); Evan Allen, “Under a Dark Sky, a Baby is Born” (The Boston Globe); Lisa Gartner, “She’s Taught at the Parkland High School for 14 Years. Can She Go Back?” (Tampa Bay Times); Claire McNeill, “So You Remember the Student Who Was Shot at FSU? He’s Pretty Sure We’ve All Moved On” (Tampa Bay Times); and Bethany Barnes, “Targeted” (The Oregonian).