2021 Writing in the Margins contest winners

Each year for over a decade, Briarpatch Magazine holds a contest for poetry, creative non-fiction, and photography that brings to life issues of social and environmental justice. We’re very pleased to announce the winners and honourable mentions of our 11th annual Writing in the Margins contest!

Congratulations to our winners:

Winners are awarded $500 and are published in the March/April issue of Briarpatch.

This year’s honourable mentions go to:

Honourable mentions are awarded $150 and are published online.

Hagere Selam “shimby” Zegeye-Gebrehiwot’s poem, “brief and brazen - homo######philia in #########”, also took home the prize for best hometown entry.

We’re excited to share these powerful essays, poems, and photos with our readers. Congratulations to all!

Thank you to our judges, Amber Dawn, jaye simpson, and Jeff Bierk for lending their expertise to select the winners and honourable mentions this year. And thank you to all of the entrants for sharing your stories, poems, and photos. There are precious few contests dedicated specifically to writing and art that address social and environmental justice, and we were humbled and inspired by the fierce, beautiful, and hopeful submissions we received.

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