Blood Orange Review Annual Contest

2021 Contest Results

The winners' writing appear in the current issue of Blood Orange Review.

Poetry

Shagufta Mulla

Winner | Shagufta Mulla | "Daughter Mined With Mercury"

Shagufta Mulla, DVM is an artist, emerging poet and writer, and an Amherst Writers & Artists workshop facilitator.  Her poetry has appeared in ARC Journal, Orangepeel, and Blood Moon Journal and is forthcoming in an anthology by Sundress Publications.  She is a 2021 recipient of a poetry residency at Mineral School in Mineral, WA and an upcoming participant in Tupelo Press’ 30/30 Project for Fall 2021.  She holds a DVM from Colorado State University and a BS from the University of Arizona.  Shagufta lives in Oregon and she can be found on Instagram @s.mulla.dvm.

tabitha clara

Runner-Up | tabitha clara | “to begin”

tabitha clara is an emerging poet-barista-artist based in athens, georgia. their work focuses on queer ecosystems and creative communities, and can be found in journals such as ariadne magazine and stillpoint literary magazine. currently, they are developing their first full-length work, the light leaves green in your eyes.

Fiction

Michele Zimmerman

Winner | Michele Zimmerman | “Step-Beast”

Michele Zimmerman is a queer writer with an MFA in fiction from Sarah Lawrence College. Her work appears in POST ROAD, Catapult’s TINY NIGHTMARES: VERY SHORT TALES OF HORROR, and others. In the past she has been a SUNDRESS PUBLICATIONS Best of the Net nominee & a two-time finalist for the GLIMMER TRAIN Short Story Award for New Writers. Find her on Twitter @m_l_zimmerman.

Paul Haney

Runner-Up | Paul Haney | “First Mate”

Paul Haney is a queer writer from Orlando who now lives in the Boston area. His work has appeared in the Boston Globe Magazine, Cincinnati Review, Potomac Review, Quarter After Eight, Rumpus, Slate, Sweet, and elsewhere. While developing a queer Bob Dylan memoir, he serves as Co-Editor of the Dylan Review. Follow him @paulhaney.



Nonfiction

S.C. Beckner

Winner | S.C. Beckner | “Inheritance”

S.C. Beckner is a freelance writer, essayist, and an MFA candidate at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She is currently working on a book length memoir project. Her essay “Kein Baby” was a finalist for the 2020 Iowa Review Award in Nonfiction. S.C. resides in Wilmington, NC where she writes, hikes, and walks the beaches with her two dogs.

Aiden Baker

Runner-Up | Aiden Baker | “History of Glass”

Aiden Baker lives in Berkeley, California. You can find her work in the Ninth Letter, Sonora Review, Orca, and elsewhere.

CLMP’s Contest Code of Ethics:

CLMP’s community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines—defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.