We’re pleased to announce the finalists and semi-finalists for the Spring 2026 Black River Chapbook Competition! We’ve narrowed it down to 12 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 shortly.
FINALISTS
The Caged Anagrams by Hadara Bar-Nadav
Home Movies by Ja’net Danielo
Our Fathers Leave Us by Danielle Cadena Deulen
Flight by James Kates
hysteresis by Cindy King
Witness for the Destruction by Becka McKay
Projection in Retrograde by Nat Mesnard
Extinction Event of a Personal Nature by Aaron Rabinowitz
Onlookers by Arpita Roy
Pang by Emily Schulten
The Hold by Penda Mbaye Z. Smith
Ember by Christopher Stewart
SEMIFINALISTS
How to Stay Upright: A Field Guide for Women Who Have Tried Everything by Maria Beker
Hem by Raymond Brunell
Save Me, America! by Alex Juffer
Black Hawk Sonnets by Seth Kleinschmidt
Brown River by Daniel Lorberbaum
As Shadows Gather in the Ravine by Anna Scotti
I Go Where the Angel Commands by Amanda Smeltz
Flood [Poems] by Brian Phillip Whalen
Reliquary by Doug Whippo
The Girl with the Mask in the Underground by Basctian Zese