Want to see your name on this list? Keep checking our competitions page for upcoming competitions.

1. “Naive Beauty” by Judith Chibante

2. “Aftermath” by Shakiba Hashemi

3. “Death Rattle” by Leslie Frisbee

4. “muse” by Cecily Markham

5. “I am a woman now of many years” by Cecily Markham 

6. “Fungi Sonnet” by Ren Miller

7. “Austerlitz” by Ann Vincent Vila

8. “Genealogy” by Ralph La Rosa

9. “City of Ashland” by Gayle Hellinger

10. “Good Shirts” by Deig Sullivan

11. “On the Job Training” by Cynthia Webb

12. “A Point of Origin” by Lauren Tess

13. “Florida, 1947” by Thomas Dukes 

14. “EMMANUELLE” by Robert Ember

15. “DREAMS” by Elizabeth Sauce

16. “Death, of a Goldfish” by Karen C. Stone

17. “Sonnet to October” by Laurie B Holding

18. “Tears of the Unheard” by Kasia Natalia Badger

19. “Eucharist” by Richard Stimac

20. “Clair Obscure” by D. A. Dorwart

21. “song” by Michael Miller

22. “You” by Grace Adams 

23. “A Box Filled with Broken Crayons Speaks” by Tamiko Nesbitt

24. “DAYS OF PALE TEA” by Katherine Atwell Herbert

25. “What Earth Said” by Cara Whalen

The post Announcing the Winners of the 2024 Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards appeared first on Writer's Digest.

One of my favorite things to do each year is choosing the winner of the Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards. In 2023, there were more than 900 entries covering a range of forms, subjects, issues, and themes. In the end, I selected Calloway Song’s “Songs of Gideon” for the First Place Prize of $1,000, publication in Writer’s Digest, and a 20–minute consultation with yours truly.

Calloway Song is a writer and poet from the Bay Area—who is pursuing a BA in linguistics from Duke University. For me, his poem “Songs of Gideon” feels like an earnest attempt to wrestle with the paradox of trying to reason one’s way to faith. The slashes help break up ideas and language and force me to consider each separately and together. As with many great poems, I leave it with more questions than answers.

Here’s a quick Q&A with poet Calloway Song:

What are you currently up to?

My frequency of writing can likely be graphed as a wave function. Some days, I will write enough poems to fill up half a notebook (most of which I end up salvaging). Most other days, I just try to appreciate the things I write. Life is too short to put yourself down all the time.

How long have you been writing?

Poetry-wise, I started writing more “seriously” around five years ago, in my junior year of high school. Poetry was one of the places where I got to make English whatever I wanted it to be.

What inspired “Songs of Gideon”?

The poem didn’t even have a title at first. The poem was titled months later after it was written. “Songs of Gideon” came from a place of religious doubt and existentialism, and a lot of foundational structures, which I had built my beliefs upon, were falling apart.

The Book of Job touches upon the seemingly absurd suffering of the human experience. Ecclesiastes (Kohelet) discusses the vanity of work and the eventuality of all “things.” The Song of Solomon relates to human love and the longing for another.

These books were historically categorized as “wisdom literature.” Night after night, I tried to search for a definite answer from these scriptures. Something tangible that could finally dispel every question I ever had.

I ended up leaving with 20 more questions, hence why this poem can feel vague and disjointed at times, especially with the slashes in between phrases. It was written by someone who had—and still has—many vague and disjointed foundational beliefs.

The title “Songs of Gideon” is a reference to the song “Visions of Gideon” by Sufjan Stevens, which elicits this sense of longing, for the divine or another. I relate my journey to it in many ways, longing to find and connect with a higher power. As for the “songs,” see them more as a mating call of some bird to an empty forest or reaching your hand into the void, only to hope a fingertip reaches back.

The world is absurd at times, and this is all I know for certain: Love the people who need to be loved—I am tired of sadness, and the things I can change nothing of but write. But I know I am not the only one.

If you could pass on one piece of advice to other poets, what would it be?

Littlewood’s law says miracles happen on average once a month.

Go be stubborn like the miracle writer you are.

“Songs of Gideon” by Calloway Song

The post Calloway Song, Winner of the 18th Annual Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Want to see your name on this list? Keep checking our competitions page for upcoming competitions.

1. “Songs of Gideon” by Calloway Song

2. “Passeridae” by Julie Novak-McSweeney

3. “For Lot’s Wife (A Parable of Fame)” by Judith Chibante

4. “Rain After a Drought” by Chuck Collins

5. “Ode to my Octopus Dilemma” by Simone Lyon

6. “Says the Witch” by Chrystina Hanson

7. “Ode to Edward Hopper’s Hodgkin’s House” by Suellen Wedmore

8. “The Summit” by Stuart Sheppard

9. “Let the World Fall” by M. K. Wessel

10. “Francis” by J.W. Rose

11. “Ballet” by Alison Luterman

12. “Harlem Noir” by Ryan Files

13. “Sitting in the Old House – Part Two” by Erin Callaway

14. “When We Were Magical” by Victoria Mary Fach

15. “Tied in Knots” by Laura Teste

16. “October Light” by Dennis Todd

17. “My Son Gets an ‘M’” by Lee Varon

18. “Soul Returned Home” by Lila Drowos

19. “The Journey” by Michelle Smith

20. “I Remember You” by Stuart Forrest

21. “How to interview for a job after Jamaica Kincaid’s ‘Girl’” by S.M. Ward

22. “Free Advice” by Adrienne Parkhurst

23. “An Elderly Man” by Ron Speer

24. “At the local coffee shop” by SL Fogleman

25. “Half Price” by Yingchao Xiao

The post Announcing the Winners of the 2023 Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Want to see your name on this list? Keep checking our competitions page for upcoming competitions.

1. “Helix of the gift, lineage song” by Purvi Shah

2. “Letter to Myself to be Secreted Away Until” by Suellen Wedmore

3. “Palimpsest in Purple & Sun” by Ilari Pass

4. “I Married In the Year of Assassinations” by Judith Chibante

5. “Our Scars & Souvenirs” by Taylor Feuss

6. “I Said I Wouldn’t Talk About God (A Haunted Sestina)” by .chisaraokwu.

7. “september session” by Nicole Adabunu

8. “an eggshell” by Lorraine Niboro

9. “Morning- Feb 24, 2022 A Bop* for Ukraine” by Robin Holland

10. “If I grieve at all” by Maryn Boess

11. “Krysuvik” by Sara Letourneau

12. “Midnight Walk” by Laurie Holding

13. “Floaters” by Christy Schwan

14. “The Equation Hidden at the End of the World” by Michael Olson

15. “Beacon Hill Beach” by Eillene Leistner

16. “Rain” by Shawna Braun

17. “Summerland” by Bernadette McComish

18. “Prayer for Old Age” by Nev March

19. “Preparing for Winter” by Karla Wotruba

20. “The West Facing Trees” by Gregory Cooper

21. “what would do for you?” by Richard Toth

22. “Winter’s Call” by Karla Wotruba

23. “One” by Patricia Cicero

24. “A Dream for Sell” by Tara Peterson

25. “Granpa’s Cigar” by Jessica L. Morris

The post Announcing the Winners of the 2022 Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Every year, I’m excited to read the new set of poems for the annual Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards. The only downside is having to pick and rank winners. It’s always a challenge to narrow down a list of finalists and, ultimately, choose the winner.

For the 2020 Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards, there were more than 1,200 entries. The poems covered a range of poetic forms, including sonnets, villanelles, and free verse. The subjects were just as diverse, covering the big issues of 2020 (like the pandemic and protests), as well as timeless subjects (like falling in love and admiring the natural world). 

In the end, I selected Deborah Hall’s “The Loneliest Whale” for the First Place Prize of $1,000, publication in Writer’s Digest, and a 20-minute consultation with yours truly. Read her winning poem at the bottom of the page.

I found “The Loneliest Whale” to be a feast of metaphors and images beginning with the very familiar hum of a dryer. Focusing on the humming sound, the dryer becomes a whale and space itself. Unsurprisingly, the poem offers up several sonically pleasing lines (such as line four’s: “…deep in sleep, cocooned by after-midnight moon”). And underlying it all is this sense of connected loneliness.

Here’s a quick Q&A with poet Deborah Hall:

How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing and working on my writing for 27 years—since I started the master’s program in 1994 in creative writing at Florida State, where I went on to graduate with a PhD in 2007.

What inspired “The Loneliest Whale?”

I started with a sound. I gathered my notebook, sat in the middle of my bed late at night, and listened. What I heard was the dryer. As I began to find the words for that humming in order to describe it, I thought “what things hum?” which made me remember the unidentified whale in the Pacific Ocean that has never been seen, only heard.

When I’m writing a poem in which I’m the center, I often allow my perspective to shoot above me and to think about myself inside of a container (the house) which helps me to expand to think of the neighborhood as another container. While I’m up there, I shot across the U.S. and found myself on a boat, listening to the sad wail of a lonely, unidentified mammal, so I described that scene.

In the beginning when I was thinking of “things that hum,” I also remembered hearing that there is a sound out in the universe that has been described as a hum. I wasn’t sure how I would work that in, but I found a way. I wasn’t really thinking about my own loneliness but that seemed apropos at the end, to relate to the whale, to connect spiritually to other souls through the humming (as we learn from meditation and Eastern religions), and, finally, to the universe and to curl up by myself (but not by myself if we’re all connected) to go to sleep. The thought of all this connection comforted me.

Has anything changed for you as a writer since winning the award?

I’ve had an extremely stressful semester, so not really. However, I hope to attend the Writer’s Digest Conference in July in NYC.

If you could pass on one piece of advice to other poets, what would it be?

Write regularly, write to connect with others, write about where you are, notice your surroundings and the sounds around you. It’s the original “woke space” to occupy.

Let me say this in one “piece of advice:” Occupy your place in the world and nail that down for others to experience and to connect to you. Then, practice your occupation over and over again, reading the works of others who are also occupied in their space and committed to nailing down their experience.

“The Loneliest Whale” by Deborah Hall

The dryer’s cylindrical song is humming in the center

of this quiet house, this safe wood-box I call my own.

My bedside light is the only sign that one of us on this street

is not deep in sleep, cocooned by after-midnight moon.

There’s a single bed sheet in the dryer, flapping in electric

heat, humming like the loneliest whale in the Pacific

although not the same 52 hertz frequency. I worry over

his unanswered mating call, how his love wail is too high

for the blue whales or the fin whales, how scientists

are not certain of his species as he has not been seen—

only heard—by the late-night fishermen, their rocking boats

slapped by waves, the moon above skipping the water with

blue light, how the high-pitched moan crosses water and air

and shivers up through the deck, up one fisherman’s spine

into the chamber of his chest, how his own heart breaks,

how the umbrella of star-sky above the Earth hums a

similar song in the center of all this space, how those of us

in beds below windows turn toward its sound, pull sheets

tight, turn off the inside lights, and rock ourselves to sleep

The post Deborah Hall, 2020 Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards Winner appeared first on Writer's Digest.

1. “The Loneliest Whale” by Deborah Hall

2. “Plum Harvester” by Alice Tranum

3. “Froggy Went a Courtin’” by Seth Pace

4. “With a sideways curl, my dog” by Kathryn Dunn

5. “My Grandfather’s Tyepwriter” by Pamela Cranston

6. “Come Home, Diana” by Carla Chervin

7. “Nobody Knows” by Tina Lear

8. “Breaking Them In” by Mary Eastham

9. “I Want Snow” by Lara Adams Gaydos

10. “It Hurts” by Atania Paul

11. “Hamburgers and Pinball” by Judy Winchester

12. “Rhyme and Reason” by Lauren deVore

13. “Walk Slower” by Anne Guertin

14. “Angry Black Woman” by Deloris Brownlow

15. “Humble Pie” by Victor Raines

16. “The Prince of Craft” by Benjamin Vance

17. “In Irons, We Weep” by Daude Teel

18. “Blamywhamy” by Cici Grove

19. “The Beer at the Swinging Door Saloon” by Randall McNair

20. “Easter Egg Hunt in a Church Graveyard” by Bruce Niedt

21. “The Karmic Lesson” by Anna Morrissey

22. “Robert Lee and Bea” by Yvonne Sharren-Connor

23. “Over the Summer” by Ann Weaver

24. “Wilms’” by Elizabeth Saulsbury

25. “For a Friend in Love With a Race Car Driver” by Glenn Taylor

The post The 2020 Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards Winners appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Early-Bird Deadline: November 3, 2025. New Categories and Prizes!

Writer’s Digest is celebrating our 20th Annual Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards with new categories and prizes. We’re looking for your best poems of 32 lines or fewer or un-published chapbooks 25 pages or fewer. Any form of poetry is eligible including epic, free verse, odes, pantoums, sonnets, villanelles, and even haiku. This is the only Writer’s Digest competition exclusively for poets. Win cash and an article about you in the July/August issue of Writer’s Digest.

Prizes

One First Place Winner in each category will receive:

• $1,000 in cash
• An interview with the author in Writer’s Digest
• The winning single poem will be published in Writer’s Digest magazine’s July/August 2025 issue and to a worldwide readership on WritersDigest.com. The winning chapbook will be distributed digitally to the WD community
• A 20-minute consultation with Senior Editor, Robert Brewer
• A one-year subscription (new or renewal) to Writer’s Digest magazine
• 20% discount off of purchases made at Writer’s Digest University
• A special graphic recognizing their winning status

The Second Place Winner in each category will receive:

• $250 in cash
• Their name and poem’s/chapbook’s title published in Writer’s Digest magazine’s July/August 2025 issue
• Promotion on WritersDigest.com
• A one-year subscription (new or renewal) to Writer’s Digest magazine
• 20% discount off of purchases made at Writer’s Digest University
• A special graphic recognizing their winning status

The Third Place Winner in each category will receive:

• $100 in cash
• Their name and poem’s/chapbook’s title published in Writer’s Digest magazine’s July/August 2025 issue
• Promotion on WritersDigest.com
• A one-year subscription (new or renewal) to Writer’s Digest magazine
• 20% discount off of purchases made at Writer’s Digest University
• A special graphic recognizing their winning status

Fourth through Tenth Place Winners in each category will receive:

• $100 off a purchase from the Writer’s Digest Shop
• Their name and poem’s/chapbook’s title published in Writer’s Digest magazine’s July/August 2025 issue
• Promotion on WritersDigest.com
• A one-year subscription (new or renewal) to Writer’s Digest magazine
• 20% discount off of purchases made at Writer’s Digest University
• A special graphic recognizing their winning status

Eleventh through Twenty-Fifth Place Winners in each category will receive:

• $50 off a purchase from the Writer’s Digest Shop
• Promotion on WritersDigest.com
• A special graphic recognizing their winning status

Categories

• Single Poem
• Chapbook

How to Enter

ENTERING IS EASY!

Create your free Submittable account by clicking the SUBMIT button. If you already have a Submittable account, simply log in!

You can compete in multiple WD competitions with a single login! Check back often for an updated list of competitions.

When you are ready to submit your work to the WD Poetry Awards readers, you’ll want to have the following information available:

Your contact information (be careful that the information provided is accurate). Contact information is to be provided only on the submission form (not on the submission’s file upload). Time sensitive information such as credits and contact information (for prize distribution) is taken directly from the submission form. Due to the nature of deadlines, corrections to this information are not guaranteed.

Your POETRY AWARDS submission file (see the PREPARING YOUR ENTRY tips for more information).

Your method of payment (see the ENTRY PRICING, SUBMISSION DEADLINES AND WINNER NOTIFICATION page for tips for all pricing and deadlines).

Preparing Your Entry

Important & Helpful Information Prior to Entering

• Have your necessary information available when you are ready to submit your entry.
• All entries must be submitted online through Submittable. If you already have a Submittable account, simply log in!
• Please be sure that the email address that you provide will be valid throughout the competition span. Competition related updates and winner notifications are sent via: email. Please type carefully, and list only one valid email address. Check your spelling carefully including all login information, email addresses etc. Incorrect email addresses may result in the transmission of important information being delayed and/or unsuccessful. Be sure that our email addresses (both Writer’s Digest and Submittable) are not blocked, or you may not receive critical information, receipts, confirmations etc. Check your SPAM folder for any expected but unaccounted for email communications.
• Once an entry has been submitted, no edits, replacements or exchanges will be accepted. If you wish to submit an edited or revised version of a previously submitted entry, you may enter it as a new submission (you may wish to edit the title slightly as well so that you can differentiate them).
• The submitter is who we will refer to as the author, and who we will contact with any questions, updates etc. If the submitter and the author are not the same, please indicate accordingly in parenthesis, on the submitter name line. If you write under a pen name, please indicate.
• Check your spelling carefully including all login information, email addresses etc. Incorrect email addresses may result in transmission of important information being delayed and/or unsuccessful.
• Be sure that neither Writer’s Digest or Submittable email addresses are blocked. Blocking either address, including marking either as Spam or Junk, will prohibit you from receiving competition related updates, critical information, receipts, confirmations, etc.
• If you write under a pen name, or if there are multiple authors, please indicate names on PEN NAME line of the submission form.
• Writer’s Digest assumes all entries are original and are the works and property of the entrant, with all rights granted therein.
• Writer’s Digest is not liable for any copyright infringement on the part of the entrant and will not become involved in copyright disputes.
• Writer’s Digest reserves the right to reject work deemed unsuitable for publication or that does not meet all named criteria.
• Winner Notification dates refer to the date that all winners will be notified by.
• Non-Winner Notification: Entrants not selected as winners will not be notified individually; non-winners will be emailed a competition status update in the weeks following the winner notification date. If you enter multiple times, please excuse duplicate emails, as you may receive an email for each separate entry.
• All entries must be submitted online.
• Entry fees may be paid online by credit/debit card (MC, V, AMEX & DISC) or PayPal.
• All deadlines are at 11:59 PM EST, on the specified date. This is the date that all related materials (when applicable) must be shipped by as well. Mailed in entries/materials must deliver within 5 days of the current posted entry deadline, as listed on the website at the time of your submission

Word Count / Line Count Requirements

Online Entry forms must have the line/page count listed where requested.

• Single Poem: 32 line maximum. Count refers to lines containing text. Do not count blank lines between stanzas & do not count the title or contact information.
• Chapbook: 25 page maximum. No more than one poem per page (even if the poems are very short like haiku). The entry may contain up to 25 shorter poems, present one epic 25-page poem, and/or a combination of shorter and longer poems.

Entry Method Options/Preparing Your Entry

• All entries must be submitted online through Submittable. If you already have a Submittable account, simply log in! There is no cap as to the number of submissions that can be entered into the competition overall, however each submission (including edited versions being re-submitted) must be checked out separately. Entries must be accompanied by the required judging fee We accept PayPal or credit card payment for the required judging fee. Fees are non-refundable.
• All entries must be in English. Only original works that have not been published (at the time of submission) in print, digital or online publications will be considered. Self-published work in blogs, on social media, etc. will be considered.
• Entries must be typed and formatted to 8-1/2 x 11 or A4 pages. Poems may be single or double-spaced. Your name, address, email and phone number should not appear on the entry file since that information is collected on the entry form.
• BE SURE OF YOUR LINE/PAGE COUNT! Entries exceeding the line/page limits will be disqualified.
• Due to U.S. Government restrictions we are unable to accept entries from Syria, Iran, North Korea, or Crimea.

RULES

• All entries must be in English. Only original works that have not been published (at the time of submission) in print, digital or online publications will be considered. Self-published work in blogs, on social media, etc. will be considered. Any AI-generated or AI-assisted work will NOT be considered.
• Writer’s Digest reserves one-time nonexclusive publication rights to the winning poem and chapbook to be published in a Writer’s Digest publication. Authors retain all ownership of their work.
• Entries exceeding the line/page count requirements will be disqualified.
• Entry fees are due at the time of submission.
• Refunds are not provided for disqualified, withdrawn or non-winning entries.
• Winners must provide an appropriate tax form (W9 or W8BEN) in order to receive their cash awards. If the forms are not received within 60 days of the request date, cash awards may be forfeited.
• The following are not permitted to enter the contest, neither under their legal names nor pen names: employees of Active Interest Media and their immediate family members; Writer’s Digest Books authors; Writer’s Digest contributing editors and columnists; and Writer’s Digest instructors for online courses and live webinars. Grand Prize-winning authors from this and other WD competitions, within the three years of being awarded, are not eligible. Previous top winning entries from this and other WD competitions are ineligible except in the case of substantial rewrites. Ineligible entries will be disqualified.
• Due to to U.S. Government restrictions we are unable to accept entries from Syria, Iran, North Korea, or Crimea.

Pricing and Deadlines

Early-Bird Deadline: November 3, 2025

• Single Poem entry—$20 for the first entry; $15 for each additional poetry entry.
• Chapbook entry—$35 for the first entry; $30 for each additional manuscript entry.

Deadline: December 1, 2025

• Single Poem entry—$25 for the first entry; $20 for each additional poetry entry.
• Chapbook entry—$40 for the first entry; $35 for each additional manuscript entry.

Additional entry discounts only apply after submitting and checking out your first entry. All deadlines are at 11:59 PM EST, on the specified date. All payments must be submitted at the time of entry.

Judging and Notification

• Every qualified entry will be read by the judges. Judges’ decisions are final.
• Entries must be submitted online (11:59 pm EST) by December 1, 2025.
• Winners must provide an appropriate tax form (W9 or W8BEN) in order to receive their cash awards. If the forms are not received within 60 days of the request date, cash awards may be forfeited.
• The following are not permitted to enter the contest, neither under their legal names nor pen names: employees of Active Interest Media and their immediate family members; Writer’s Digest Books authors; Writer’s Digest contributing editors and columnists; and Writer’s Digest instructors for online courses and live webinars. Grand Prize Winners from the previous three years are not eligible. Ineligible entries will be disqualified.
• Top Award Winners will be notified on or before January 30, 2026. Top winners will be listed in the July/August 2026 issue of Writer’s Digest and at www.writersdigest.com after the July/August 2026 issue is published.

Still have questions? 

Easy to Follow PDF

• FAQ
• Writer’s Digest Competitions

Enter your email below and receive a free download, “Writer’s Digest Complete Guide to Writing Contests,” and be a step ahead of your competition!

The post Poetry Awards appeared first on Writer's Digest.

It’s no easy task to rank one poem above another, especially when considering the diversity of poetry. There’s always a range of poetic forms, including free verse, covering a variety of subjects and expressing a myriad set of moods.

As usual, there were many strong contenders for the top spot after going through around 1,000 entries. Ultimately, it came down to which excellent poem spoke to me more than any of the other great entries.

This year, I selected “Lullaby” by Nancy Shea for the Grand Prize. Shea will receive $1,000, a free video download of Build an Audience for Your Poetry from the Writer’s Digest Shop, and a 20-minute consultation with yours truly.

See a complete list of the 2019 Poetry Awards winners.

“Lullaby” by Nancy Shea

The oak leaves High this August afternoon

Drop a net of light and shadow

from the treetops Onto the sidewalk below

Cool the cheek of the infant sleeping His mother swaying under the branches

And I remember you as you were

fingers, lashes, tiny tendrils curling before the kaleidoscope of smaller roundnesses

Irises blooming hallow pools of darkness

sharp wind in the branches the violent letting go

two leaves pleading from one bough falling

side by side cradle-like descending

two cupped hands snapped at the wrist

falling in summer

you whispering Mother, is that all there is?

I loved all the finalist poems, but “Lullaby” swept me away for several reasons. The opening lines drew me in with the visual of an oak tree in August dropping “a net of light and shadow from the treetops onto the sidewalk below” that shades a swaying mother and infant child sleeping.

Then, this scene sparks the narrator to remember her child and an intriguing mystery that involves “pools of darkness,” “violent letting go,” and “two cupped hands snapped at the wrist.” All of it riffing off the popular “Rock-a-Bye Baby” lullaby.

The WD Poetry Awards call for unpublished, original poems of 32 lines or fewer. The top 25 winners receive a download of Build an Audience for Your Poetry and recognition on WritersDigest.com.

The post 2019 Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards Winner: “Lullaby” by Nancy Shea appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Read the winning poem by Nancy Shea.

1. “Lullaby” by Nancy Shea

2. “Sister Anne at St Isaac’s Retreat House – Hokianga Harbour, New Zealand” by Terri Ashton

3. “Poetry Submission Guidelines” by Yiskah Rosenfeld

4. “ghosts” by Katelyn Grimes

5. “Medio Mudo” by Joe Frye

6. “Slack” by Erica Hostetler

7. “Choose Some Other Language, Dear” by Harvey Soss

8. “Mojave” by Ron Santos

9. “In a Thimble of My Spit” by Suellen Wedmore

10. “Dawn Moonset – Sunset Crater” by Mel Konner

11. “Revival” by Ambrin McBrinn

12. “Message From the Authentic” by Laura Miller

13. “about walking on a typewriter, like walking through a graveyard” by Jack Robertson

14. “The Murex” by Pat Anthony

15. “Byron Anamnesis” by Aria Ligi

16. “Elephants for Sheila” by Mary Ann Unger

17. “Supplies” by Eddie Sullivan

18. “Leviathan” by Jordan Shields

19. “An Abecedarian for the Opposite of Wanderlust” by Arista Engineer

20. “Going after mistletoe” by Jody Serey

21. “#32” by Jack Robertson

22. “A Joyful Noise” by Harvey Soss

23. “Kxai-kxai Dawn” by Mel Konner

24. “My Father’s Pencil” by Beverly Magovern Lyon

25. “Little Town, Texas” by Justine Lockhart

The post The 2019 Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards Winners appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Writer’s Digest would like to congratulate the winners of the 2018 WD Poetry Awards! Read the winning poem in the July/Aug 2019 issue of Writer’s Digest. Here are the top 25 winners, selected by WD Senior Editor Robert Lee Brewer.

1. “Sing the Solitary Sunrise” by Beth Brody
2. “Gasping Breath­—Heart on Fire” by Roy Salole
3. “High Tea at Four as the Apocalypse Draws Near” by Harvey Soss
4. “A Pear” by Hannah Page
5. “Dia de Los Muertos—All Saints’ Day” by Cindy Woods
6. “Ghazal” by Rebecca Fanning
7. “Gone” by Linda Burt
8. “Her Body Is Snakes” by Hannah Page
9. “Sonnet to Mr. Frost” by Laurie Holding
10. “Bones” by Elizabeth Weaver-Kreider
11. “Peru: What Stays” by Alison Luterman
12. “Lily (No. 48 of Women’s Names Sensual Series)” by Carrie Radna
13. “Grimhilde Baits Snow White” by Dorty Nowak
14. “Ode to the Clotheslines of Trevi” by Suellen Wedmore
15. “The Debate” by Alison Luterman
16. “Markings” by Terrence Davis
17. “The Audit” by Sandra Kacher
18. “Eagle Snow” by Dr. Emory D. Jones
19. “The Last Trail” by William Preston
20. “Brother James” by Alex Stokas
21. “Hair of the Dog” by Michellia Wilson
22. “Heavenly Peace” by Dr. Emory D. Jones
23. “Ramona Isabella” by Jamie Morewood
24. “Chrysalis” by Hannah Page
25. “Oh, Jane Austen” by Anna Gossett Johnson

The post Announcing the Winners of the 2018 WD Poetry Awards appeared first on Writer's Digest.