Knoxville, TN– Sundress Publications is pleased to announce that Katherine Riegel is the winner of our third chapbook competition. Among a record number of strong and engaging manuscripts, Riegel’s collection, Letters to Colin Firth, stood out. Judge Nicole Oquendo had this to say about the chapbook:
“Katherine Riegel’s Letters to Colin Firth is a chapbook that refused to let me forget it was there, creeping, waiting for me to read it again. On the surface, the writing was boldly funny, and I never once felt alienated that the letters weren’t addressed to me directly. I knew they were for Colin Firth, for Katherine, for me, and for anyone else willing to take part in the journey they lay out. Over time, the letters reveal a quiet depth that sneaks in and spreads itself thick across each page. The density of it speaks for itself. Start reading for tea and trip to England, and stay for a run through the tar pits of grief. Don’t worry; I’m still stuck, too.”
Katherine Riegel is the author of two books of poetry, What the Mouth Was Made For and Castaway. Her poems and essays have appeared in a variety of journals, including Brevity, Mead, and The Rumpus; five of the pieces from this chapbook recently appeared in The Offing. She is co-founder and poetry editor for Sweet: A Literary Confection and currently teaches at the University of South Florida. Visit her at www.katherineriegel.com.
We also are excited to announce that Jessica Rae Bernamino’s The Desiring Object OR Voyager Two Explains to the Gathering Stars How She Came to Glow Among Them was also selected for publication – both collections will be available later this year on the Sundress website at http://www.sundresspublications.com.
Other Submitted Chapbooks of Note:
Finalists
Jessica Rae Bernamino – The Desiring Object OR Voyager Two Explains to the Gathering Stars How She Came to Glow Among Them*
Dana Kelli – Push
Kate Peterson – Grist
Semi-Finalists
Amy Ash – Echo, Unravel
Yu-Han Chao – Triptychs on a White Belt
Declan Gould – Creating a Chain Reacting
Erin Radcliffe – Bottomland
Jennifer Stein – A Girl in Three Acts
*Selected for publication