Karen Hempson's essay "Lotus Flowers" was a semi-finalist and Nancy Dafoe's essay "Raison d’Etre" was a finalist in the essay category of the William Faulkner - William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition, an international competition sponsored annually by the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society in New Orleans.

Dafoe's short story "Standing on the Porch..." was also a finalist in the 2018 short story competition. Her novella Naimah and Ajmal was a semi-finalist in the 2018 competition.