2024 OPA Adult Contest – Theme Category "The Coast"– Winners
Judge’s Overall Comments:
Thanks to the OPA Conference Committee for the opportunity to
judge poems in “The Coast” category in the 2024 Adult Contest. I was very impressed with the number of submissions in this category and by the quality of those submissions. It struck me that we like the coast and like to write about it. Every poem deserves a commendation, and I want to convey that to all who submitted. So, it was especially challenging to pick winners from all this quality. Thank you all for participating and for this opportunity.
1st Place: Amelia Díaz Ettinger, “when greeting the ocean for the first time,”
2nd Place: Carolyn Adams, “Autumn Sea”
3rd Place: James Higgins, “Moon Motion”
1st HM: Karen Berry, “The View from Dad's Porch”
2nd HM: Connie Soper, “Tritina for Short Sand Beach”
3rd HM (tie): Marilyn Johnston, “Sanctuary”
3rd HM (tie): Lisa Baldwin, “We are more salt than stardust”
JUDGE
Tom Hogan
Tom Hogan’s latest book, Giving Thanks: New and Selected Poems was published by Dancing Moon Press in 2018. He is the author of The Promise of the Trail (also by Dancing Moon Press, 2014). He also has five chapbooks: Poems for the Journey, More Poems for the Journey, Texas Dawning, Clouds and Water and Cathedral Rock. He directs the Milwaukie Poetry Series, currently in its 17th Season and is a member of the Clackamas County Arts Alliance Literary Committee. He is an LCSW in private practice and lives with his wife Jane in Milwaukie, Oregon.