Aaron Teel ('07) began writing down his childhood memories in a creative nonfiction class taught by Ann McCutchan, assistant professor of English. The result was a collection of short stories called Shampoo Horns (Rose Metal Press) that won the Rose Metal Press Sixth Annual Short Short Chapbook Contest.

Teel, a high school English teacher in Austin, has read his works across the country and spoke at UNT in November.

"It was an emotional moment for me -- bringing Shampoo Horns back to UNT where it started," he says.