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  • February 8, 2012

Submission Contest Update: Finalists

February 7, 2010
By Shulem Deen


Get your ballots out because the voting is soon to begin! We received many great entries. And to borrow the contemporary feel-good slogan: All are winners. But it isn’t just a slogan. The qualified submissions all had something going for them: creativity, poignancy, humor, imagery, descriptive detail, and all-around great writing.

The judges chose five finalists. Readers will vote for their single favorites, and the top three will win the prize.

Our panel of judges consisted of: Chana Lander, Shtreimel, and Hasidic Rebel. Judges were disqualified from entering the contest.

So without further ado (to borrow a term from the Oscars – always mentioned after considerable ado), here are the contest’s finalists:

1) My Antidepressant: An Outsider Looking In
By Meagan Dwyer

2) A Clear Mind
By Isha Yefastoar

3) Green Tuesday
By Bar Bi Rav

4) Faking It: (“O’ God”)
By Tzippi Langstrumpf

5) A Steady Mourning
By Eli Szendrowitz

Three more were very close. These were tough calls to make, and we list them here as very worthy entries:

‘Nafkeh Mineh L’kedushin’ and The Quadratic Equation
By Yonadab

Closed Doors
By Misyavni

Peanut Candy Chews
By Pen Tivokeish

Voting will start on Tuesday, at 12 am. Voting will be open until Thursday at midnight. One vote per person, based on unique IP addresses. (Apologies to those with shared computers, but it’s the only reliable method.)

Thank you again to all who submitted. Whether you made it into the contest or not, we do hope you’ll keep on sending those submissions, because Unpious.com is here to stay.


The following is a list of all qualified submissions:

My Antidepressant: An Outsider Looking In
By Meagan Dwyer

‘Nafkeh Mineh L’kedushin’ and The Quadratic Equation
By Yonadab

A Clear Mind
By Isha Yefastoar

For Want of a Nail
By Pen Tivokeish

A Fur Coat and Clicking Boots
By Meagan Dwyer

Come, O Bride!
By Velvel Chusid

Green Tuesday
By Bar Bi Rav

Peanut Candy Chews
By Pen Tivokeish

Closed Doors
By Misyavni

Faking It: (“O’ God”)
By Tzippi Langstrumpf

Hair
By Rebecca M. Ross

Hello Darkness, My Old Friend
By Marc Kay

He with the Capital H.
By Pen Tivokeish

Cross, Kick, Hook!
By Jew Jitsu

I Love You, Brother
By Tzippi Langstrumpf

Belle Meets Belz
By Stephanie Cleveland

The Great Glass Elevator
By Pen Tivokeish

A Steady Mourning
By Eli Szendrowitz

Union Square Park
By Meagan Dwyer

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Tags: Around Town, contest, writing

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Author: Shulem Deen (28 Articles)

Shulem Deen (a/k/a Hasidic Rebel) is Unpious.com's founding editor. A former Chasid, he is the author of the Hasidic Rebel blog, which he has been writing since 2003. His articles have appeared in the New York Daily News, The Forward, Brooklyn Rail, Nerve.com, Tablet, TribeVibe, and elsewhere. He can be emailed at shulem.deen@unpious.com.

15 Responses to “ Submission Contest Update: Finalists ”

  1. Tzippi's number one fan!! on February 7, 2010 at 5:13 pm

    Where/how do we vote? I gotta vote for “faking it, o god”

    Like this comment? Thumb up 0

  2. Shpitzle Shtrimpkind on February 7, 2010 at 5:24 pm

    Is a write-in candidate for the submission of a measly comment permitted?

    I could use them’s two hundred bucks.

    Like this comment? Thumb up 0

  3. Hasidic Rebel on February 7, 2010 at 5:28 pm

    Tzippi’s fan: we’ll have instructions on how to vote as soon as we open the polls. (We won’t have butterfly ballots, so no worries.)

    Sorry, Shpitzle. But it does give some ideas for the future. :)

    Like this comment? Thumb up 0

  4. Maya on February 7, 2010 at 5:43 pm

    Excellent selections, all of them.

    Like this comment? Thumb up 0

  5. Tzippi's number one fan!! on February 7, 2010 at 5:44 pm

    tzippi! I’ll do what i can to make sure you get the $200!!!

    Like this comment? Thumb up 0

  6. Yoelish on February 7, 2010 at 5:47 pm

    Who are we to judge?

    Like this comment? Thumb up 0

  7. laura on February 7, 2010 at 7:05 pm

    Can I vote for nafka mina l’kedushin even though it isn’t a finalist?

    Like this comment? Thumb up 2

  8. Shtreimel on February 7, 2010 at 7:19 pm

    Laura, I’m sure you can, but it won’t count. I’ll agree though, it was an excellent piece. It was hard not to see it make it to the finals.

    Like this comment? Thumb up 0

  9. Hukidding on February 7, 2010 at 8:52 pm

    Let me say what many of us have been thinking. This contest is a pathetic sham. Yonadab and Misyavni’s posts are by far superior to the antidepressant piece which is old and stale. I doubt MG will get even one vote. You guys are pandering to the female writers and we don’t wonder why…A Clear Mind is questionable, but ok,you might call it artsy, and we can see why. The Green post was ok, but not as good as Closed Doors. Seriously, you guys are disappointing and amateurs at best.

    Like this comment? Thumb up 0

  10. Shlomo Schwartz on February 7, 2010 at 11:11 pm

    Why can’t I vote for Listen My Son?

    Like this comment? Thumb up 0

  11. Chana on February 7, 2010 at 11:21 pm

    Shlomo- any submissions that were received before the contest was announced, were not in the contest.

    Like this comment? Thumb up 0

  12. Pericles on February 8, 2010 at 10:46 am

    Why the primary? Let the readers vote for their favorite, direct democracy style.

    Like this comment? Thumb up 0

  13. Yonadab on February 9, 2010 at 10:32 am

    Thanks Laura, maybe you can pull off a Kanye, ;) against these Jay Leno’s of Unpious.

    Joking aside, thier choices were fine choices, and I appreciate the shout out.

    Like this comment? Thumb up 0

  14. Yonadab on February 9, 2010 at 10:33 am

    Thanks Laura, maybe you can pull off a Kanye, ;) against these Jay Leno’s of Unpious.

    Joking aside, thier choices were fine choices, and I appreciate the shout out.

    Like this comment? Thumb up 0

  15. Rupture & Continuity on February 9, 2010 at 11:29 am

    Yondab.

    I would vote for your piece were it up for voting, too. I understand though why it didn’t make the finals. In order to truly apprieciate your piece one has to be familliar with the special circumstances that are being portrayed throughout the article. As someone that has been exposed to the diverse worlds of secular and religious education I enjoyed your article immensley. Its truly a masterpiece. Hold your head high, its worthy to win this contest.

    Like this comment? Thumb up 0

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