Runners-up

In addition to one Grand Prize, ten runners-up received $100 in books each. Congratulations all around!

I realized my mistake at hello. She was there, at the orientation lecture for new candidates, because she had been accepted into the doctoral program in English. I had been accepted into the MFA program, a wholly different prospect.... (read more)

Before we got hitched, my partner and I asked ourselves what one thing each could do that would cause the other to leave forever. Her answer? "Cheat." Mine? "Not give me enough time to read."... (read more)

In the late 1980s, my husband and I adopted a medically-fragile baby. He was born severely affected by drugs, yet he grew stronger each and every day. We had the support of his foster parents, his pediatrician, our family and friends.... (read more)

Stepping through the door, I gasped as the shock of sun, wind and vertigo flattened me against the cold stone wall. It seemed possible that a gust would fling me over the puny rail and I would luge down the arc of roof, fingers scrabbling at its glazed terra cotta sheath.... (read more)

There he was. In person. The imaginative, energetic octogenarian Ray Bradbury was speaking — without notes — to a sellout crowd at the 1997 Novello Festival of Reading. This plump, owlish, bespectacled man gave me my most memorable reading experience, not only of the last ten years, but of my entire life. Let me explain.... (read more)

In 1996, I taught struggling readers in a Berkeley elementary school. That was the year I met Shelton. Shelton couldn't read and he knew it. He didn't know the difference between a word, a sentence, a paragraph, or a chapter... (read more)

It wasn't one experience, but a thousand that I remember, when poems, bright like fireflies buzzing around my head, comforted and inspired me, or vexed me until I threw them across the room like a madman.... (read more)

I always knew that my father had been in a war. But as a child it was of little importance to me. I had bicycles to ride, friends to play with and trees to climb. Stationed at Pearl Harbor after its bombing, his days were spent working in an office. On liberty he went to movies or exploring with friends. These were the stories he told.... (read more)

Sometimes, a book is great because of what it does to us — taking us to another place, teaching us something we did not know. Sometimes, a book is great because of what it does for us — providing us with a respite from a crazy world or giving us the language to explain what is otherwise inexplicable.... (read more)

I was twenty-three when my brother killed himself. Skip was the oldest. I was number four of six. He always seemed so mature, so sure of himself. He was cool in a Bobby Darin sort of way, a bit of a rebel, lazy at school, bright. He was my hero.... (read more)

	READING IS FUNDAMENTAL

Our Decade of Reading Essay Contest was a benefit for Reading is Fundamental. Click here for more information about RIF.

	FEATURED ESSAYS

The following sample essays were graciously provided by professional writers.

Marc Acito

I should have been happy, but I wasn’t. I mean, after nearly ten years of pursuing an operatic career, I had finally scratched my way to the middle... (read more)

Kurt Andersen

My most memorable reading experience of the last ten years? I assume we are talking about published writing... (read more)

Win Blevins

I wear a tee shirt emblazoned: "Don't Bother Me, I'm reading." It's a heartfelt sentiment. Once, however, being interrupted worked out beautifully... (read more)

Rebecca Brown

Two nights ago I finished reading Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut. I was sitting up in bed next to my peacefully sleeping spouse... (read more)

Martin Clark

There are two things I know for sure: The best song ever recorded is Robert Earl Keen's "The Road Goes on Forever"... (read more)

More Featured Essays

•	Justin Cronin
•	Michael Cunningham
•	Regan Daley
•	Kenneth C. Davis
•	Samantha Ettus
•	Jody Gehrman
•	Bruce Haring
•	Eric Jager
•	Garrison Keillor
•	Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
•	Ben Mezrich
•	Sara Nelson
•	Luanne Rice
•	Esmeralda Santiago
•	Judy Reene Singer

	STAFF ESSAYS

Chris Bolton

I experienced that sensation as I perused the first few pages of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, a Christmas gift from my father, back in 1995... (read more)

Steven Fidel

My family likes to play a sometimes-entertaining game called Brushes with Greatness. We all have our favorites... (read more)

Georgie Lewis

Possessed as I am with a restless nature, I've aspired to travel widely as frequently as time and finances will afford... (read more)

More Staff Essays

•	Jill Owens
•	Joe Rogers
•	Kevin Sampsell
•	Dave Weich