Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you most sincerely to every poet who sent entries to support our contest. We appreciate your support!
S. Morse, Contest Chairperson
Poet’s Choice (Judge – John Morrison)
First Place: “Everyone Worries Schrodinger’s Cat is Dead or Alive, Yet No One Stops to Ask Its Name” by Brady Pearson
Second Place: “Certain Light” by Nancy Christopherson
Third Place: “Twenty Grace Notes for Barry Lopez” by Joanna Rose
1st Honorable Mention: “No Better Place to Be” by Ursula McCabe
2nd Honorable Mention: “About Miro” by Brad Maxfield
3rd Honorable Mention: “All Along the Great Wall” by Michael Hanner
Members Only (Judge – Colette Tennant)
First Place: “From the Journals of Rumpelstiltskin” by Linda Ferguson
Second Place: “Tether” by Melody Wilson
Third Place: “February” by Suzy Harris
1st Honorable Mention: “Bumper Sticker” by Scottie Sterrett
2nd Honorable Mention: “Musings in a Seaside Garden” by Cynthia Jacobi
3rd Honorable Mention: “Need Comes Down Like a Mallet” by Lauren Mallett
Theme/Emergence (Judge – Rachel Barton)
First Place: “Because You Asked” by Michael Hanner
Second Place: “Habitat” by Ursula McCabe
Third Place: “1969 Woods Creek Road” by Joy McDowell
1st Honorable Mention: “If you were all water…” by Melissa Reed
2nd Honorable Mention: “The Dream Inside of Me” by Jillian Madanay
3rd Honorable Mention: “Attending” by Jayne Marek
New Poets (Judge – Clemens Starck)
First Place: “Garden on a Thanksgiving Morning” by Carol Boutard
First Place: “Fuzzy-Diced” by M. Sean Stanley
Second Place: “Breakfast in Bed” by Miriam Steinbach
Third Place: “Homeless Man” by Mike McPherson
1st Honorable Mention: “Petrichor” by Anna Jasinska
2nd Honorable Mention: “Acceptance Comes” by Caitlin Mitchel-Markley
3rd Honorable Mention: “Apostrophe to e” by Jade Walker
Traditional/Dizain (Judge – John Sibley Williams)
First Place: “In the Key of Melancholy” by Barbara Blanks
Second Place: “Knitting Lesson” by Lynn Otto
Third Place: “Blind-spots Dizain” by Amelia Diaz Ettinger
1st Honorable Mention: “On Earth as It Is” by Nancy Knowles
2nd Honorable Mention: “Morning ride towards an uncomfortable truth” by M. Sean Stanley
3rd Honorable Mention: “Hope in the Twenty First Century” by Vivienne Popperl
Under 30 (Judge – Tiel Aisha Ansari)
First Place: “etymology for rage” by Ashley Baker
Second Place: “Heritage” by Jade Walker
Third Place: “Miracles I’d Forgotten” by Sarah Kendall
1st Honorable Mention: “self-portrait” by Em Coleman
2nd Honorable Mention: “Inside a Tree” by Bodhi Figgins
3rd Honorable Mention: “The Appalachian Mountains” by Michael Morrell
Spanish Language (Judge – Efrain Diaz Horna)
First Place: “Entre parentesis” by Nitza Hernandez
Second Place: “comesol” by Broderick Eaton
Third Place: “Invernal” by Concepción Sámano
1st Honorable Mention: “Costureras” by Anna Jasinska
2nd Honorable Mention: “el verde de mis padres” by Amelia Diaz Ettinger
3rd Honorable Mention: “Hispaniola” by Michael Hanner