The purpose of the Colorism Healing Writing Contest is to raise awareness about colorism among all people and to provide a productive, creative outlet for self-expression and healing.
Live Virtual Book Launch!!!
Friday, August 20, 2021
Noon Central Time
Streaming Live on the Colorism Healing YouTube channel. Subscribe so you don’t miss it!
Skip Ahead To:
- 2021 Contest Judges
- 2021 Project Assistants
- Patreon Acknowledgements
- Contest Results
- Anthology Featured Authors (Editor’s Picks)
- Cover Art- Artist Info
2021 Contest Judges
Bobbi Simmons
Bobbi J. Simmons is a poet, writer and author of the new novel, Birdwild. Birdwild is her first novel in a series of follow-up books. As a veteran educator she holds an Ed. S. degree in Educational Leadership. Bobbi has spent the past two and a half decades teaching the various genres of reading and writing. Her writing is the therapeutic method she uses in order to write passionately about fictional and non-fictional scenarios. Bobbi’s insatiable appetite for writing gives her writing a profound spark of high energy. She was the 2018 Colorism Healing Poetry Contest editor’s pick winner for her poem about the essence of natural hair called, “Black Cotton.” Two of her pieces were featured in the 2020 Colorism Healing Writing Contest. She is the founder and creator of the writing group, “Free to Be Penned Up,” a charted writing club for young future authors and artists passionate about their work. Since it’s conception the club has aspired and propelled several writers and artist to the next level as winners of various local, state and national contests. Bobbi recently retired and devotes her new found time to writing from the comfort of her home, and communing with the exquisiteness of nature in her flower and vegetable gardens. She spends her free time traveling the world with her amazingly handsome husband, Thomas. They are both jazz enthusiasts and adventurists. One of their most memorable and thrilling escapades was the zip line ride in Labadee, Haiti.
Sienna Morgan
Born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Sienna Morgan is a fresh name in authorship, but her name is positively here to stay. Through descriptive prose, with an admonishing, tactful and scripture-esque voice, she is sure to captivate. Topics such as colorism, bullying, faith and mental health, are at the heart of her work. Sienna’s words offer hope, inclusion and implores every reader to self-reflect.
Visit Sienna’s personal Website/Portfolio
Connect with Sienna on LinkedIn
Project Assistants
Naila Buckner
Naila Buckner is currently a sophomore at UIS, pursuing a degree in Visual Arts. She has a deep appreciation for creative writing as a form of healing and self-expression and is grateful to be a part of this contest. She has been the lead designer for this year’s book cover.
Diana Vazquez
Diana recently graduated from the University of Illinois Springfield with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. She was the Project Assistant for the 2020 contest and joined the team again for 2021. She will be starting graduate school in the Fall 2021 to pursue a career as an editor for a trade publisher.
Patreon Acknowledgements
Special acknowledgement goes to the CHWC Patreon subscribers who committed financial support to make this contest and this book possible: Akosua Lesesne, Bobbi Simmons, CaTyra Polland, Chantale Sterling, Diana Vazquez, Dyani Douze, Gabriella Schiller, Janice Ledet, Kara Fabella, Kent Blumberg, Mallory LeNoir, and Michelle Do.
Contest Results
First Place:
Chanda Rule, “Picture Day,” essay (nonfiction)
Second Place:
Olliette Murry-Drobot, “A Tattered Brown Paper Bag,” essay (nonfiction)
Third Place:
Shainah Andrews, “At Its Roots,” short story (fiction)
Runner Up:
Marsha Malcolm, “Digital Passing,” short story (fiction)
Runner Up:
Ade`Zsa Davis,”I Am (A Journal Entry),” poem
Editor’s Picks: Listed below as anthology contributors
View Results of Previous Contests
Anthology
Featured Authors:
JOÃO AMOS- “Self – Hatred”
IG: @jony.wrek
SHAINAH M. ANDREWS– “At Its Roots,” “Fertile All the While,” and “Just Not for Me”
IG: @ShainahMAndrews
Tw: @ShainahMAndrews
Other: YouTube
SHRADDHA ARORA- “Why Colour Matters?”
ANTOINETTE AZAR- “Picking Teams (for my son)”
GEORGETTE BRINDLE- “The Pretty One”
IG: @Shugintheraw
MARIAH S. BRISHBORN- “The Midnight Girl” and “Black Is Brazen”
IG: @dollov.Poetrii
ADÈZSA (PRONOUNCED: A-DEJA)- “I AM (A Journal Entry)”
IG: @loraysjourneys and @__lorayyy
CHRISLIE DOR- “Black Lives Matter”
IG: @Chrisliedor
PAMELA E DURAN- “A piece of my mind”
MARY EGGERS– “The Grand Illusion”
FOLAJIN PRINCESS OLAPEJU- “Battle of Fate”
IG: @pheoohnah
Tw: @peajay6fiona
FB: Felix Princess Martha
RAINA GOODINE- “In Your Shades”
BERRY J.- “Dark One”
IG: @lilaclocs
Other: YouTube
ALEJANDRO JALIFF- “Shone” and “The Skin-Color Dimension”
NILANJANA KAR- “Color or Colours?”
IG: k_nillz
FB: Nilanjana Kar
ALEXIS LAWSON– “Salt Eaters”
IG: @HerBlackHand
Tw: @HerBlackHand
MEGHNA MAJUMDER– “The Prism of Prejudice”
RAPTI MUKHERJEE- “The Most Beautiful Colour”
IG: @rapti_mukherjee
FB: Rapti Mukherjee
OLLIETTE MURRY-DROBOT- “A Tattered Brown Paper Bag”
IG: @ollietted
TAYLOR NATSEWAY- “Indigenous Colorism”
ZURI PATTERSON– “Jailbreak”
ESHA PILLAY– “Thirty, Flirty (not really LOL) and Surviving Colorism”
IG: @izland_kuli
Tw: @izlandkuli
CATYRA POLLAND– “Black BLACK”
IG: @pollandllc
Tw: @pollandllc
FB: Polland LLC
KENNEDI ROBERTS- “Untitled”
IG: @kennediroberts
LI: Kennedi Roberts
CHANDA RULE– “Picture Day”
IG: @iamchandarule
Tw: @iamchandarule
TAYLOR C. SCOTT & JAXMYN- “Ways of Looking at a Black Woman”
IG: @taylor_c_scott and @jaxiguess
Tw: @jaxiguess
MARNIKA SHELTON– “The Pursuit of Whiteness”
IG: @nikacherrelle
Tw: @nikacherrelles
PAIGE SMITH- “The Forgotten”
IG: @itz._paigee
EBONY STEWART– “Burnt Sugar”
IG: @gullyprincess
Tw: @EbPoetry
FB: Ebony Stewart
SRIKA SUDHEER- “beautiful girl”
ELLEN SWEETMAN– “Tierra de Umbria” and “All You Need”
IG: @mylivelybrush
FB: The Art of Ellen Sweetman
LISA DAWN TAYLOR– “Is That Good Hair?”
KIERRA “3RRA” TURNBULL– “Asphalt Aspirations”
IG: @Undecided3rra
ELIZABETH UPSHUR- “Colorism: Memory 299 of a Girl” and “Untitled”
IG: @Elizawriteswords
Tw: @elizawriteswords
DISHA WALIA- “The Hues of Nature”
IG: @quillinary
Tw: @quillinary
ALEXIS WARD– “We’ll Have Beautiful Mixed Babies”
IG: @illustrated_lexicon
OLIVIA T. WILKS– “Black, yet Comely”
IG: @__livwithpurpose
TAJINNEA WILSON– “My Color Has No Control”
IG: @ms.taj
Tw: @OfficialMsTaj
Other: Medium
Cover Art- Artist Info
This year’s cover features an original painting as part of the overall design.
Title: “Waves”
Artist: Melanie Royster
IG: @melroyart
Bio: MELROYart is an art business ran by Melanie Royster, a Visual Artist from Maryland. Melanie’s design style is influenced by Caribbean and West African cultures, stemming from her Jamaican background. Her concepts are centered around power of women.