Congratulations to Sarah Aziz, winner of this year’s competition!  Her collection, father tongue, was chosen by final judge, Jen Karetnick.  Sarah wins $500 and 25 copies of the printed chapbook, which will be published later in the year.  It’s a moving and compelling book, and we hope you’ll like it.  Everyone who submitted to the competition will receive a copy of father tongue in the mail.

father tongue is a stunning treatise on othering and being othered, whether it’s via gender, class, or even family birth order. Set in various time and place settings of India, the poems tackle British colonialism, religion, illness, love, violence, and potential immigration, among other subjects. Many of these topics are combined..These poems are explorations, imbued with contradictions and revelations, and impossible to forget.

• Sam Aureli, Echoes of the Earth
• David James, Everyday Kryptonite 
• Richard Jordan, Spotting the Rise
• Christine Kannapel, On the Edge
• Paula Lambert, On Seeing Mary Oliver Everywhere
• Kurt Luchs, Fab Sonnets
• Peter Murphy, The Buzzing of the Blue Guitar
• Ed Ruzicka, Egrets in Flocks 
• Ren Wilding, Trans Archaeologist

Semi-Finalists:

• Alexandra Gipson, Remnants of an Exhaled Breath
• Julie Kane, The Lockdown Duplexes
• Chris Ketchum, Magnolia Grove
• Jerry Krajnak, Confluences
• Lewis Leicher, Conversationalist Propaganda
• Ed Lineberry, Rabbit Unexpurgated
• Mark Sheehan, This Might Be Home
• Rob Vance, Exercising Haunts
• Patrick Whitfill, Bam, Apocalypse
• Richard Widerkehr, When All the Doors Are Open

We were blown away with the quality of the poems, and with their diversity in subject matter, form, style, and voice.  Each collection was a surprise, and offered something new and wonderful.  We were so thrilled to see all of the creativity in our Submittable queue.  A heartfelt thanks to everyone who submitted.

And because of this year’s success, we’ll be doing another chapbook competition next December, so look for calls!