This anthology collects the ten winners of the 2012 Best American Newspaper Narrative Writing Contest at the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, which is hosted by the Frank W. Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism at the University of North Texas. The contest honors exemplary narrative work and encourages narrative nonfiction storytelling at newspapers across the United States.

Although spare, sweeping landscapes may appear “empty,” plains and prairies afford a rich, unique aesthetic experience—one of quiet sunrises and dramatic storms, hidden treasures and abundant wildlife, infinite horizons and omnipresent wind, all worthy of contemplation and celebration. In this series of narratives, photographs, and hand-drawn maps, Tyra Olstad blends scholarly research with first-hand observation to explore topics such as wildness and wilderness, travel and tourism, preservation and conservation, expectations and acceptance, and even dreams and reality in the context of parks, prairies, and wild, open places. In so doing, she invites readers to reconsider the meaning of “emptiness” and ask larger, deeper questions such as: how do people experience the world? How do we shape places and how do places shape us? Above all, what does it mean to experience that exhilarating effect known as Zen of the plains?

Choral concert performed at the UNT College of Music Winspear Hall.

Band concert performed in the UNT College of Music Winspear Hall.

Band concert performed at the UNT College of Music Winspear Hall.

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Voertman Hall in partial fulfillment of the Master of Music (MM) degree.

A junior recital presented at the UNT College of Music Voertman Hall.

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Voertman Hall in partial fulfillment of the Master of Music (MM) degree.

Transcript of an interview with Jack Witherspoon, Reservations, Ticketing, Sales and Advertising employee for Braniff International Airways. Witherspoon discusses his childhood; career with Braniff; personal reflections of Braniff; Braniff’s rise to the top of preferred airlines; and its bankruptcy on May 12, 1982. Appendix includes various photos and documents from Witherspoon's career.

Audio log for a recording of an interview with Pattie South Nitchke, daughter of Charles S. South, former Vice President and Administrative Head of Braniff’s Latin-American Division. This interview was conducted for the Flying Voices oral history project. In the interview Nitchke shares recollections of living in South America, memories of her father and Braniff airways, and other comments on the uniqueness of being part of the Braniff Airways family. Appendix includes photo of Charles S. South for the cover of TIME magazine in 1951.

Audio log for a recording of an interview with Gail Laszlo, former flight attendant for Braniff International Airways, conducted for the Flying Voices oral history project. In the interview Laszlo talks about her experiences as a flight attendant, personal reflections on Braniff's impact and being part of the Braniff family, decision to quit in 1970 and the airlines bankruptcy in 1982.