Judges: Literature

Jose Faus is a visual artist, performer, writer, independent teacher/mentor with an interest in the role of artists as creative catalysts for community building. He is a founder of the Latino Writers Collective and sits on the boards of The Latino Writers Collective, The Full Frame Initiative, UMKC Alumni Assn, and Charlotte Street Foundation. His chapbook This Town Like That was released by Spartan Press. His book of poetry The Life and Times of Jose Calderon was published by West 39 Press. He maintains caridostudio in downtown Kansas City, KS.

After retiring from a long career in daily journalism, Steve Paul has turned his writing practice toward literary biography. His recents books include Hemingway at Eighteen and Literary Alchemist: The Writing Life of Evan S. Connell. The latter is the first biography of this overlooked and intriguing Kansas City-born writer and won the Society of Midland Authors’ Brommel Award for best biography in 2022. He is currently at work on a biography of the Kansas-born poet William Stafford (1914-1993). He writes regular cultural columns for KC Studio magazine and serves on the board of the Biographers International Org.