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2008 Contest - Winning writer, final judge, text of winning story, and list of finalists

2007 Contest - Winning writer, final judge, text of winning story, and list of finalists

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Text of winning stories

Final judges from past years

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Ross Kelly of Knox College Named 2003 Winner for His Story "Templeton Appeared Stoic"

Press release in May 2003

Ross Kelly, a senior at Knox College, has been named the winner of the 31st annual ACM Nick Adams Short Story Contest.

Mr. Kelly's story, "Templeton Appeared Stoic," was selected from 40 stories submitted by students from ACM colleges. Professors Susan Dobrian of Coe College and Mark Baechtel of Grinnell College served as initial faculty readers for the contest, selecting the six finalists from which the final judge made her choice.

Jean Thompson -- novelist, short story author, and professor at the University of Illinois -- served as the final judge for the contest this year, which carries with it a first prize of $1,000, made possible through a generous gift from an anonymous donor.

In commenting on Mr. Kelly's story, Ms. Thompson wrote:

"Templeton Appeared Stoic" is a risky story whose subject matter -- the sexual abuse of children -- is queasy, even brutal. The story does not veer away from what is difficult, yet neither does it sensationalize. Its emphasis is instead on the psychology of memory and of repression. It shows how family history, both spoken and unspoken, shapes lives. This is one of the few stories I've read recently that handles two different point of view successfully. When the different versions of reality, the father's and the son's, collide, we see how both men have been wounded. This is a mature and accomplished story. I admire it very much.

Ross Kelly is a Creative Writing major at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. He grew up in Kansas, where, in his own words, he was "raised by a herd of bison." Currently in his senior year, Mr. Kelly recently completed an Honors Project in which he wrote and directed a play entitled "Deserters." Following graduation, he will join the Teach for America Corps in the Mississippi Delta.

Text of "Templeton Appeared Stoic" by Ross Kelly

2003 Finalists

The six finalists and their stories were:

• Sarah Aswell, Grinnell College -- "Mrs. Wells Takes a Call" (Honorable Mention)
• Benjamin Jacobson, St. Olaf College -- "The Young Lutheran's Guide to Trippin' Balls"
• Ross Kelly, Knox College -- "Templeton Appeared Stoic" (Winner)
• Liz Mathews, Coe College -- "The Way You Made Them Suffer"
• Schonali Rebello, Knox College -- "Coconuts" (Honorable Mention)
• Daniel Sinykin, St. Olaf College -- "The Hibernating Outpost"

Jean Thompson Serves as the 2003 Final Judge

Press release November 21, 2002

Jean Thompson has agreed to serve as the professional judge for the 2003 Nick Adams Short Story Contest. She is the author of three novels, Wide Blue Yonder, The Woman Driver, and My Wisdom, and three short story collections, Who Do You Love, Little Face and Other Stories, and The Gasoline Wars.

Thompson's most recent short story collection, Who Do You Love, was a finalist for the 1999 National Book Award. Newsweek describes the collection as "a beautiful book, but a hell of a sad one ... The best stories here are so sympathetic and true that they glow a little."

In a recent interview with the Chicago Tribune, Thompson expresses a fondness for the form of short stories, making her an ideal judge for the contest. She comments, "I started out with short stories ... I loved the form. It's like trying to fit everything into one kind of box, all the things that you need for a piece of fiction."

Thompson is widely acclaimed for her powerful characters and witty prose. Kirkus Reviews writes, "Thompson's unpretentious clarity pays off most rewardingly in stories that expose their characters gradually to the unforeseen consequences of their actions." Katherine Dieckmann in The New York Times Book Review also praises Thompson: "[She] impresses as an astute observer of cloaked feelings and stalled dreams…."

Her short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Story, Mademoiselle, fiction international, Ontario Review, Ploughshares, Best American Short Stories, and the Pushcart Prizes. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation.

Jean Thompson teaches in the English Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and lives in Urbana. She has taught creative writing at the University since 1973.

Photo of Jean Thompson by Marion Ettlinger.