Gabe Montesanti Nonfiction Emerging Writer Winner

Winner of Boulevard’s 2018 Nonfiction Contest for Emerging Writers, Gabe Montesanti’s essay “The Worldwide Roller Derby Convention” is featured in the Spring 2019 issue (#101/102). Montesanti lives in St. Louis where she skates for the local team, Arch Rival, under the name Joan of Spark.

In a commentary about her work, she says, “‘The Worldwide Roller Derby Convention’ became the final chapter of my MFA thesis at Washington University in St. Louis, and is now the final chapter of my full-length memoir about derby. This essay unlocked the whole project for me, in a way. Recognizing the themes of physicality and queerness led me to draw new parallels between roller derby and my unconventional and often violent upbringing. Having a vision of the end also gave me direction—a place I could write toward.”

The 2019 Nonfiction Contest for Emerging Writers opens June 2, 2019. The winner receives $1000 and publication.