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