Although MOME apparently didn't do much for the Eisner judges this year, I'm pleased to report that two of its stories from 2008 have been chosen for the next Best American Nonrequired Reading volume (2009), edited by Dave Eggers and friends. The first is "Hair Types" by Olivier Schrauwen, as featured on the cover of MOME 12: Fall 2008. The second is "Million Year Boom" by Tom Kaczynski, from MOME 11: Summer 2008. I'm extremely proud that these were chosen, as they both rank amongst my all-time favorite MOME pieces.

The selection committee for BANR consists of a handful of high school students who help Eggers edit The Best American Nonrequired Reading series. The collection, published annually by Houghton-Mifflin, compiles the country's best fiction, journalism, essays, comics, and humor every year, and introduces a large readership to dozens of new writers and publications. The students have a blog where they post their notes on the stories considered and accepted, and here's the entry on "Hair Types," which is quite funny. I think panelist Sophia sums it up best when she says, "I think it's not supposed to make that much sense but you can make a lot of sense out of it. Does that make sense?"