2024 Writing in the Margins shortlist

Every year for over a decade, Briarpatch Magazine has held an annual Writing in the Margins contest. We accept entries of fresh creative non-fiction, poetry, and photography that bring to life issues of social and environmental justice. We want writing and photos from the edges – from new creators who have something important to say, or from longtime creators who can show us a new way of seeing things.

We are delighted to announce the shortlisted entries in our 14th annual Writing in the Margins contest. Thank you to all of the writers and photographers who shared their work with us, and congratulations to our shortlisted entrants!

Creative Non-Fiction Shortlist

"One witness testimony" by Syd Gilchrist
"Limboing under the algorithm" by Caleb Cloaca
"Waste // Sayang" by Adam Arca
"Climatememes.ca" by Alex Cool-Fergus
"Death devolved" by RH Khan

Poetry Shortlist

"Leaving, Exit Philippines" by nelli agbulos
"There's no such thing as climate" by Bryanne Cote
"Anything but a gender reveal" by Twoey Gray
"The Earth Is Bigger Than Any Currency" by Sneha Subramanian Kanta
"'I'm Speaking!' Incantation" by Rayya Liebich

Photography Shortlist

"No Longer Exists, Ein Samiya" by Jenan Afaneh
"Slow burn displacement in Parkdale" by Fatin Ishraq
"viaje de bosque (o de santos inocentes)" by Pedro Augusto Meza
"From the Ashes" by Gudrun Wai-Gunnarsson

Our judges Erica H. Isomura (creative nonfiction), Natalie Wee (poetry), and Annie Sakkab (photography) will select one winner and a runner-up in each of their respective categories. The winners will be published in our March/April 2025 issue and the runners-up will be published online on this website in March. We will announce the best hometown entry in the coming weeks.

This contest was possible thanks to a grant from the Regina Public Interest Research Group (RPIRG).