The results for the 2026 Summer Contests & Troubadour Awards are in! This season, 71 PSOV poets submitted an impressive 254 poems across seven contests. Our nine wonderful judges—including seven for the Summer Contests and two for the Davis & Peach Troubadour Awards—shared how honored and delighted they were to read such remarkable work. A heartfelt thank-you to every participating poet for making this summer a resounding success, and to our dedicated judges for generously giving their time and expertise.
Summer Contests:
Chris White Memorial Award ~Judge: Sean Prentiss
Winner: “Astrophobia and a Case of the Croup” by Michelle Fay Holder
Honorable Mention: “Total Eclipse of the Sun” by Elizabeth McCarthy
Honorable Mention: “Harmonic Decay” by Patrick Bradshaw
Carol and Arnold Abelson Award ~Judge: April Ossmann
Winner: “Parties in the Woods” by Darianna DiStefano
Honorable Mention: “Winter, First Year, Second Term” by Katrina Kunker
Mary Margaret Audette Award ~Judge: Angela Patten
Winner: “Thinking Good Thoughts” by Carol Milkuhn
Honorable Mention: “Character Count” by George Longenecker
Laura J. Spooner Award ~Judge: Karin Gottshall
Winner: “Cloud Cover” by Anna Carey
Honorable Mention: “Fiddlehead” by Buffy Aakaash
Goldstein Memorial Award ~Judge: Nancy Richardson
Winner: “Touching Wild Violets” by Elizabeth McCarthy
Honorable Mention: “A May Prayer” by Katherine Leiner
J. Richard Barry Memorial ~Judge: Geof Hewitt
Winner: “Foraging” by Katrina Kunker
Honorable Mention: “The Nature of Things After the Floods” by Judith Janoo
Marion Gleason Award ~Judge: James Morehead
Winner: “Slight Reels” by Cole Roulain
Honorable Mention: “HUBRIS” by Darianna DiStefano
Troubadour Awards:*
Corrine Eastman Davis Memorial Award~Judge: Dianalee Velie
Winner: “Red Car” by Kristine Korman
Honorable Mention: “A ROBIN EXPLAINS ARS POETICA” by Michael Cunningham
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Arthur Wallace Peach Memorial Award~Judge: Samn Stockwell
Winner: “Why I Started Smoking Again” by joy
Honorable Mention: “The Toad” by Patrick Bradshaw
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*Troubadour Awards are not Summer Contests, they are poems selected from the 2026 Mountain Troubadour. They will not be reprinted in the 2027 Troubadour but will receive special mention in the next edition of TMT and will be published on the PSOV Website.