Summer Contests

Arthur Wallace Peach Memorial Award 2023

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the story I’m telling myself is . . .

– after Brené Brown

no one intervenes.

call me a dead thing.
only then will you find
          no flaws.

steal my voice box. stuff it in
a letter like you’re spinning wildly
in a high slit. how dangerous.
send the lexicon spiraling
into satin luxury, won’t you
stalk me to silence

              until anthem turns dirge.
raise the statue of my mistakes
discarded pointe shoes and pink ribbons, then grab
a mirror, a hammer, and a dream with your teeth
it is you who refuse the dentist’s tricks.

     I’m sorry. I require more mistakes.

                             you’re too good
too good to dodge this dress rehearsal of tragedy
really how sad to squander even a second of joy

     I don’t deserve it.
     I denounce myself.

            you may have this dance.

poem by Bianca Amira Zanella

The Corinne Eastman Davis Award and the Arthur Wallace Peach Memorial Award are given for the best poem in the current issue of The Mountain Troubadour.

Corinne Eastman Davis Award 2023

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Fox

She sat calmly on the neighbors’ porch
after two feet of snow. That was enough
to bring the whole street outdoors.

We’d glimpse her in the secret
of her own pursuits—a smudge of rust
at the wood’s edge. Now she sat there,

so much more intimate than myth—
almost too small to be real.
No evidence of cunning, as though

she would gladly come inside
out of February’s storm. Stand back,
we said, don’t let the pets out.

Make sure the children stay away.
Police were summoned. Fish
and Wildlife was besieged with calls;

soft hairs bristled on our necks.
Before she left, she paused in front of me;
full coat soft russet, legs delicate,

black-stockinged. She stood inside a distance
my body had been taught to keep,
squinting at me, neither offering nor asking—

then trotting down the path a neighbor
had dug to come see for himself—disappeared
in the snow’s deep before officials came.

poem by Scudder Parker

The Corinne Eastman Davis Award and the Arthur Wallace Peach Memorial Award are given for the best poem in the current issue of The Mountain Troubadour.

Vermont Summer Chairs

Summer Contest Results

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Thank you for participating in the 2023 Summer Contests sponsored by the Poetry Society of Vermont. This year we received 180 entries, a record number. Many of our judges remarked on the quality of the poetry and the difficulty of selecting winners. The winning poems are listed below, along with the names of the poets. Also included are the winners of the Davis and Peach awards; these awards are given for the best poem in the current issue of The Mountain Troubadour.

Yours in Poetry,
Juliana Anderson, Contest Co-Chair
Carol Milkuhn, PSOV Vice President

Carol and Arnold Abelson Award
Judge: Baron Wormser
Winner: The Sparrows of Mariupol by Philip Coleman
Second Place: Judged by Judith Janoo

Mary Margaret Audette Memorial Award
Judge: April Ossmann
Winner: Word Salad by Matthew Dickerson
Honorable Mention: Eve Sues Apple for Trademark Infringement by Sarah Snyder

J. Richard Barry Memorial Award
Judge: Sydney Lea
Winner: This Poem Wants a Home by Sarah Snyder
Honorable Mention: The Black Van by Judith Janoo

Marian Gleason Memorial Award
Judge: Angela Patten
Winner: The One at the Wheel by Mary Donnelly
Honorable Mention: Gambling by Cindy Hill

Goldstein Memorial Award
Judge: Dianalee Velie
Winner: Liberty New York 1977 by Cindy Hill
Honorable Mention: Fran’s Hands by Mary Donnelly

Laura J. Spooner Memorial Award
Judge: Nancy Richardson
Winner: Spring by Ann Cooper
Honorable Mention: Still There by Sarah Snyder

Chris White Memorial Award
Judge: Neil Shephard
Winner: The Biopsy by Cindy Hill
Honorable Mention: Wanting to Defy Gravity by Sarah Snyder

The Corinne Eastman Davis Award and the Arthur Wallace Peach Memorial Award are given for the best poem in the current issue of The Mountain Troubadour. Click on the links to read the winning poems.

Corinne Eastman Davis Award
Judge: Joan Aleshire
Winner: Fox by Scudder Parker

Arthur Wallace Peach Memorial Award
Judge: Bianca Stone
Winner: the story I’m telling myself is . . . . by Bianca Amira Zanella

Summer Contests Open for Submissions!

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Summer Chairs Greensboro Vermont

June 1 to July 1, 2023 11:59pm

The Poetry Society of Vermont is pleased to announce that the 2023 Summer Contests are now open to members of PSOV. Contest Chair, Juliana Anderson and Vice President, Carol Milkuhn, have arranged an impressive collection of judges for each of the seven summer contests. Anderson and Milkuhn will be accepting and organizing member submissions for specific contests then forwarding them along to the judges which are listed below. The 2023 Summer Contest Submission Guidelines can be downloaded from here and found above in the main menu.

Judges for the 2023 Summer Contests:

  • CAROL AND ARNOLD ABELSON AWARD
    • An event or place that fosters opposition, controversy, and/or social change. The event can be historical or reflect a current political situation. 40 line limit.
    • Judge: Baron Wormser, a former Poet Laureate of Maine.
  • MARY MARGARET AUDETTE MEMORIAL AWARD
    • Light or humorous verse, 32 line limit.
    • Judge: April Ossmann, poet and leader of several PSOV workshops.
  • J.RICHARD BARRY MEMORIAL AWARD
    • Vermont or country theme, 32 line limit.
    • Judge: Sydney Lea, former Poet Laureate of Vermont.
  • MARIAN GLEASON MEMORIAL AWARD
    • Any theme, 20 line limit.
    • Judge: Angela Patten, author of The Oriole & the Ovenbird, In Praise of Usefulness, Reliquaries and Still Listening
  • GOLDSTEIN MEMORIAL AWARD
    • Any theme, 40-line limit.
    • Judge: Dianalee Velie, Poet Laureate of Newbury, New Hampshire.
  • LAURA J. SPOONER MEMORIAL AWARD
    • Best love poem, 40 line limit.
    • Judge: Nancy Richardson, author of An Everyday Thing and winner of an Indie Award.
  • CHRIS WHITE MEMORIAL AWARD
    • Theme: science, science fiction or math, 25-line limit.
    • Judge: Neil Shepard , author of How It Is: Selected Poems, (T)ravel UN(T)ravel and founder of the poetry-jazz ensemble POJazz.

 

2022 Summer Contest Winners

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Sunflower
    • Abelson Award
      • First Prize– “Anthropocene,” by Scudder Parker
      • Second Prize– “On Notice,” by Warren Baker
    • Audette Award
      • Winner– “Slug Hug,” by Ann Day
      • Honorable Mention– “DIG?” by Carol Kiewit Leinwohl
    • Barry Award
      • Winner– “Fox,” by Scudder Parker
      • Honorable Mention– “Bird News,” by George Longenecker
    • Gleason Award
      • Winner– “The Beauty Before Us,” by Buffy Aakaash
      • Honorable Mention– “The Labyrinth at Chartres,” by Philip Coleman
    • Goldstein Award
      • Winner– “dream house,” by Robyn Joy (Peirce)
      • Honorable Mention– “Yellow Bird,” by Ann Day
    • Spooner Award
      • Winner– “Protected Places,” by Ann Fisher
      • Honorable Mention–” A haibun for you, in May,” by Philip Coleman
    • White Award
      • Winner– “Wood Storks at Cape Canaveral,”by George Longenecker
      • Honorable Mention– “The Answers,” by Elizabeth McCarthy