Each year, december is honored to host a Guest Judge for our poetry and prose contests. Our judges are writers whose work is beloved and whose contributions to the literary community are uniquely significant. Roxanne Gay, Joyce Carol Oates, Taté Walker, Brittney Cooper, Anne Tyler, Eula Biss, Albert Goldbarth, Rita Mae Brown, and many others have lent their expertise to our past contests. It’s a joy and privilege to work with such brilliant people, and we want to share the experience!

Our inaugural Off the Page event has been rescheduled for July 17th. The first in a series of free online conversations with our Guest Judges. Learn and enjoy with some of your favorite writers and the december team. We will share a new date as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.

For our first Off the Page event, we will be joined by Dorianne Laux, Guest Judge of december’s 2024 Marvin Bell Poetry Prize Contest. Ms. Laux is the author of Life On Earth, Only As the Day is Long: New and Selected Poems, The Book of Men, and four other collections of poetry. She is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, winner of The Paterson Prize, and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist.

Dorianne will be in conversation by Grace Cavalieri, poet and host of the popular podcast The Poet and the Poem. Following their conversation, we will be joined by the finalists and winners of the 2024 Marvin Bell Poetry Prize Contest, who will read their winning poems. Learn more about the winning poets below!

SUSANNA LANG (in absentia) – WINNER – “In Your Father’s Garden”

Susanna Lang divides her time between Chicago and Uzès, France, where she loves to sit in the Place Aux Herbes with a glass of rosé. Her chapbook, Like This, was released in 2023 (Unsolicited Books), along with her translations of poems by Souad Labbize, My Soul Has No Corners (Diálogos Books). In addition to earlier appearances in december, her work appears in such publications as The Common, Asymptote, American Life in Poetry, and others. Learn more at www.susannalang.com

TIMOTHY KELLY – HONORABLE MENTION – “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”

Timothy Kelly was raised in Cleveland and educated in Ohio, Boston and Seattle. He has published three poetry collections and a chapbook In the last 12 months, his poems have appeared are forthcoming in Prairie Schooner, the Madrona Project, The Healing Muse, and december. He has lived in Olympia, WA for 40 years, is married, raised two boys, and recently retired from a career in Physical Therapy. Learn more on Instagram at @olytk51

NICOLE ADABUNU – FINALIST – “bones arched like flowers”

Nicole Adabunu is an MFA Poetry graduate from The Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She is a 2024 Cave Canem Fellow, and her work has been published by Writer’s Digest, The Academy of American Poets, The Drift, and elsewhere. She currently lives and writes in Chicago. Learn more at www.nicoleadabunu.com, on Instagram at @alive_atleast, and on Twitter at @NotNowNicole.

B.J. BUCKLEY – FINALIST – “Watching the Horses in First Snow”

Montana poet B.J. Buckley has taught in Arts-in-Schools/Communities programs throughout the West and Midwest for five decades. Her recent work appears in Mudfish, Pine Row, december, Poeming Pigeon, and Willow Springs. Two new books, Flyover Country (Pine Row) and Night Music (Finishing Line Press) are forthcoming in 2024. Learn more at wild4verses.wixsite.com/b-j-buckley

AIDEN HEUNG – FINALIST – “Mannequin”

Aiden Heung (He/They) is a Chinese poet born in a Tibetan Autonomous Town. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The Australian Poetry Journal, The Missouri Review, Poetry International, Harvard Review, Cincinnati Review, and other publications. After working as a traveling salesman for years, he relocated to St. Louis where he is an MFA candidate at Washington University. Learn more on Twitter at @aidenheung

ELIZABETH HICKSON – FINALIST – “Ode to the Smallest Supernova”

Elizabeth Hickson is a graduate of Brooklyn College, where she earned her MFA in Poetry. She is also a graduate of Wake Forest University, where she earned a B.A. in English Literature and received the D.A. Brown Award for Excellence in Creative Writing. Originally from Ohio, she currently lives in North Carolina.Learn more on Instagram at @elizabeth_hickson

ALISON LUBAR – FINALIST – “bullet ● points”

Alison Lubar teaches high school English by day and yoga by night. They’re the author of four chapbooks, and their first full-length poetry collection, METAMOURPHOSIS, is forthcoming with fifth wheel press in October 2024. Learn more at http://www.alisonlubar.com/ or on Twitter at @theoriginalison

WILLIAM OREM – FINALIST – “Jellyfish Season, Chesapeake”

William Orem writes about spiritual issues. His first collection of poems, Our Purpose in Speaking, won the Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prize and the Rubery International Book Award. He is a Senior Writer in Residence at Emerson College, and his novels, short story collections, and plays can be found at williamorem.com

LEXI PELLE – FINALIST – “Ode to the Box of Red Lentil Pasta”

Lexi Pelle was the winner of the 2022 Jack McCarthy Book prize. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Rattle, Ninth Letter, SWWIM and Crosswinds Poetry Journal. She is the author of the poetry collection Let Go With The Lights On. Learn more at lexipelle.org and on Instagram and Twitter at @lexipellepoetry