Today’s the day: the short list for the Spring 2021 Black River Chapbook Competition is here! From nearly 1,000 entries, we’ve narrowed things down to 12 semi-finalists and 9 finalists. (As always, this was definitely not easy! We read and agonized over many more than these 21 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 There are excellent manuscripts that aren’t reflected in this list, and there were a few chaps we loved that were withdrawn along the way.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)
Grandma June by Mara Beneway (prose)
Ghostings by Gerri Brightwell (prose)
And on the Seventh Day, God Wrote a Pop Song by Sionnain Buckley (prose)
Night Logic by Matthew Gellman (poetry)
Gold by Robin Gow (prose)
My Burning City by Arthur Kayzakian (poetry)
Sabrina’s Last Bachelorette Party Ever by Sara Martin (prose)
Instructions May Vary by Nia Morgan (poetry)
Killing It by Gaia Rajan (poetry)
SEMI-FINALISTS (alphabetical)
The Unnatural Color of Pink by Debra Bowling (prose)
Nightworld by Susan Falco (prose)
Firewood by Joanna Hoffman (poetry)
Vortex with Baba by Gerald Majer (prose)
Flower Boi by MARS Marshall (poetry)
Plastic Mausoleum by Tegan Murrell (poetry)
Meat Rabbits by Noley Reid (prose)
Middletown by Stephanie Rogers (poetry)
Mother Map by Taylor Schaefer (prose)
Only the Forest Knows by Anindita Sengupta (poetry)
They More than Burned by Tara Stillions Whitehead (prose)
Marvelous, So Marvelous by Sarah VanGundy (prose)