It’s time–the short list for the Fall 2020 Black River Chapbook Competition is here! From over 900 entries, we’ve narrowed things down to 11 semi-finalists and 13 finalists. (As always, this was definitely not easy! We read and agonized over many more than these 24 exciting, well-crafted entries. There are excellent manuscripts that aren’t reflected in this list, and there were a few chaps we loved that were withdrawn along the way. We appreciate every one of you deeply. Please keep making our jobs difficult.)
Entries were read, without identifying information, by an editorial panel consisting of judges (BLP chapbook authors including previous BRCC winners) and BLP editors. Entries were kept anonymous until today–so we can unveil the lists to you!
To all the semi-finalists, congrats & thank you! We will announce the winner from among our list of finalists shortly.
FINALISTS (alphabetical)
Exquisite Corpse by Bryan Byrdlong (poetry)
Daycare by Anna Foran (prose poetry)
Might Kindred by Monica Gomery (poetry)
Southwest Stories by Marcy Rae Henry (prose)
Ripening Kind by Erin Miller (poetry)
Instructions May Vary by Nia Morgan (poetry)
Our Archipelago by Troy Osaki (poetry)
Goat Songs by Jeremy Packert Burke (prose)
Haints by Colleen Rich (prose)
Thick City by Katie Jean Shinkle (prose)
Dominant Genes by SJ Sindu (prose / hybrid)
When I interview fire by Carolyn Supinka (poetry / hybrid)
The Sisters by Jordan Windholz (poetry)
SEMI-FINALISTS (alphabetical)
Wants, Revisited by Stacy Bierlein (prose)
You Are Nature by Amanda Bloom (prose)
a small house by Michael Farfel (prose)
Eternal September by Marcy Rae Henry (prose)
Aftermaths by Christopher Lombardo (prose / hybrid)
The Bath by Kiley McLaughlin (poetry)
Projection in Retrograde by Natalie Mesnard (poetry)
The Language of Bees by Tracy Miller Geary (prose)
Quicksand / Stargazing by Remi Recchia (poetry)
Paradigm Temporarily Under Construction by G. J. Sanford (poetry)
Passport Poems by Yun Wei (poetry)