Today’s the day: here are the semifinalists and finalists of the Fall 2023 Black River Chapbook Competition! We’ve narrowed it down to 7 finalists and 10 semifinalists, which was not easy! We received many compelling manuscripts, and we deeply appreciate every one of you. Thank you for trusting us with your work, and thank you to the BRCC editorial team for your time & care.
An editorial panel consisting of BLP editors and judges (BLP chapbook authors, including previous BRCC winners) read each entry without identifying information. Every entry was kept anonymous until today, so we can unveil the lists to you!
To all the semifinalists, congratulations & thank you!
We will announce the winner from among our list of finalists soon.
FINALISTS (alphabetical)
The Better of Us (prose) by Russell Barajas
Homebake: Poems (poetry) by Ann-Marie Blanchard
Tell Me Again (poetry) by Dana McKenna and Ben Clark
What Would Ingrid Bergman Do? (prose) by Natalie DeVaull-Robichaud
Dislocation (poetry) by John Glowney
What We Did to Her Made the Water Rise (poetry) by Meghann Plunkett
Signal to Static (prose) Matthew Thompson
SEMIFINALISTS (alphabetical)
Return from Dust (prose) Oriana Christ
I do not hate myself for wanting (poetry) Anis Gisele
At Least Dust, a Crown (poetry) John Minczeski
Warmbloods (poetry) Rebecca Morton
Chimera (poetry) LeeAnn Oliver
Palermo (poetry) Ann Pedone
American Tuesdays (prose) Aaron Rabinowitz
Virgo (poetry) by Sophia Terazawa
A Woman Could Navigate Time (poetry) by Mason Wray
Difficult (poetry) Rewa Zeinati
**If you submitted a chapbook manuscript to our November Open Reading Period, please know that we are still reading and considering submissions, and responses will be sent out on a rolling basis.