2008 OxDocs Festival Participants & Winners

Ghost Righter
*Winner* Tony McAuley Prize
By Emmett Clarkin
A famous reclusive mystery writer is stalked by a young journalist pursuing her story and also revenge on the person whom he believes destroyed his life.
Contact: squer@verizon.net

A Private Audience
*Winner* First Place
By Zan Skolnick
The political dealings behind the Vatican's recognition/normalization of relations with the State of Israel, capped by the visit of Pope John Paul II to Jerusalem.
Contact: zbskol.zsa@earthlink.net

Soldier from the Grave
*Winner* Second Place
By Stuart Boyce
Dwayne Iron Horse's plans for a casino are thwarted when the body of a Civil War soldier is discovered on the site.  His grandfather brings this soldier back from the grave and Dwayne must somehow convince this man-who killed his ancestors-to be moved.
Contact: playsboyce@msn.com

Dinner at 1800 Hours
*Winner* Third Place
By Joan Kufrin
What do the human and political dimensions of My Lai and September 2001 have in common?  Join the Echols and Grimes families for dinner.  All Meredith and Bill want to do is get married.  All their polarized parents want to do is argue the state of the world.  But a delay in the meal, too many drinks, and a game of Most Hated Dirty Word, turns into a series of shocking life-altering confessions.
Contact: jgkufrin@aol.com

Ninety-Six Layers of Concrete, Furniture and Air
*Winner* Special Merit Award
By Richard Davis, Jr.
Sam thinks he can fly and he's absolutely certain he won't be needing an airplane to accomplish the feat.  He chooses Samantha Winkin's 19th floor office as a runway.  She tries to change his flight plans.
Contact: rdavis@aug.edu

Zun Zun
By K. Biadaszkiewicz
The passionate story of Celia Sanchez and Fidel Castro.
Contact: PO Box 202, Wyandotte, MI, 48192

Walking Wounded
By John William Tuohy
A true story of five siblings overcoming life in foster care.
Contact: JWTuohy95@hotmail.com

Iraq War Prayer
By Jean W. Yeager
A "peace maker" is arrested for "disturbing the peace" while praying during a church service.  Has politics won out over piety?
Contact: jwyeager@igc.org; 802-775-6914; 38 Kendall Avenue, Rutland, VT 05701

Swing Dance
By Janice Liddell
Multiple journeys - through race, age, geography, history - of a Jewish college student and a middle-aged African American woman are the focus.  The historical tragedies of Leo Frank and Newt Lee serve as backdrop.
Contact: 404-752-9413

The Ballad of Nally and Nell
By K. Biadaszkiewicz
A teenaged girl, angry after receiving a poor grade for a history paper she had put her heart into, decides to do a documentary film, instead.  Her choice to film in the the park on the very day the military is recruiting decides her fate and results in a video that expresses precisely what she had tried to write.
Contact: PO Box 202, Wyandotte, MI, 48192

Previous Winners & Participants

2007

Sir Roger Casement, Traitor
*Winner* Tony McAuley Prize
By George Hickenlooper, Sr.
Accused of treason, Si Roger Casement sacrifices his life for the cause of Ireland’s freedom.
Contact: ghickenlooper@lindenwood.edu

Choices
*Winner* First Place
By Stan Goldberg
Faced with choices throughout our lives, direction often comes from hidden connections.  A 57-year-old gay, African-American Pulitzer Prize winner, dying of pancreatic cancer in a hospice, finds them in an unlikely source.
Contact: stan@stangoldbergwriter.com

Heartland
*Winner* Second Place
By Anita Simons and Lauren Simons
Based on the true stories of German POWs working U.S. farms and the many arrests of German-American families during WWII, Heartland tells the story of what can happen when fear and prejudice pit neighbor against neighbor in times of war.
Contact: asimonsays@gmail.com

The Trial of Jean Gump
*Winner* Third Place (tie)
By Joan Kufrin
True story of Illinois wife, mother and grandmother Jean Gump, whose trial by the U.S. government for a daring act of civil disobedience demanded that the jury find loyalty to country trumps conscience.
Contact: jgkufrin@aol.com

A Bozza for Gaza
*Winner* Third Place (tie)
By K. Biadaszkiewicz
Contemporary political fairy tale: part Arabian Nights, part stand-up comedy, in a lively story of love, hope and sacrifice.
Contact: PO Box 202, Wyandotte, MI 48192

Conversations with My Mother
*Winner* Special Merit Award
By Steven Blum
A mother and son react to the death of a Palestinian girl, shedding light on the generational difference in attitude toward Israel among American Jews.
Contact: stevenleobloom@gmail.com; 206-265-3371

The Clan of the Quillins
By J. Paul Porter
An epic tale told with no set or scenery, set in Scotland, Ireland and the New World of the 17th century, based on the history of the author’s family.
Contact: jpaul_porter@yahoo.com

The Prism
By Ed Friedman
A look at aging and the perception of aging through the lens of culture and class.
Contact: adlib501@hotmail.com

Are You the Wife of Michael Cleary?
By Gino A. Diiorio
March 1985.  A young woman, accused of being a fairy changeling, is burned by her husband.  Based on a true story.
Contact: 845 West End Ave #3A, New York, NY 10025; 646-408-7262; GinoD42@aol.com

The Blasphemer
By Daniel Curzon
You shouldn’t murder somebody because you don’t like a book they wrote!
Contact: 416 Dorado Terrace, San Francisco, CA 94112; 415-585-3410; curzon@pacbell.net

An Unrelated Covert Operation
By Jim O’Connor
Top CIA officers scramble to protect a huge secret project from the surprise hazards of Watergate.
Contact: 2675 Henry Hudson Parkway #5-M, Bronx, NY 10463; 718-884-8133

The Executioner
By Daniel Robinson
In the absurdity of war, an enemy executioner is captured and made to defend himself before the gallows turn on him.
Contact: danielrobinson2@gmail.com; 310-425-2323

When I Became Invisible
By Catherine Hotaling-Donnelly
When I was 16 years old, my parents let a friend of theirs, a 40-year-old man, sleep on our couch until he could make up with his wife.  This play is about the trouble that ensued.
Contact: PO Box 727, Elkins, AR 72727; 479-790-3035; naturalpetfoods@aol.com

High and Goodbye
By John William Tuohy
The life and times of American Icon, Dr. Timothy Leary
Contact: JWTuohy95@hotmail.com

Loss of Privilege
By Jeri Lewis
Successful white male starts a transition to transgender and experiences its impact on his relationship and privilege.
Contact: jeriugk@aol.com

Abigail Solo
By Jane M. Ross
As the U.S. entered its first major war in 1775, Abigail Adams - who was to become an American First Lady - was a single parent for 10 years while John served his country in the cause for freedom.  What is Abigail's track record for solo management of home and family?
Contact: JMR2000@msn.com