My poetry contest continues to bring amazing poetry entries from an international audience! I truly never thought I’d be getting responses from other continents.
This month, the winning poem comes from Medha Goel, a poet living in India. Medha posts short poems under the instagram handle of @whyj_st.
The $25 prize will be send to Medha directly.
Medha’s poem was created using page 242 of Like a Charm by Karin Slaughter.
Maybe you tried to write a poem a day during National Poetry Month, and now you’re feeling a little tapped out. When I want to create but don’t feel I have anything to say, I like to turn to blackout poetry. If you’re unfamiliar you can check out “The History of Blackout Poetry” and “Erasure and Blackout Poems: Poetic Forms.”
This month, create an erasure or blackout poem. If you’re struggling to choose a source text, consider a long-form newspaper or magazine article. You can draw over a hard copy source text, or use your word processing software to black out original material.
You can send your poem as a Word or PDF file; I will also accept .jpg and .png files if it makes more sense to send your poem that way. Please also include the name and author of the source text in your submission.
Email your poem to allyson@allysonwhipple.com by 11:59 pm on May 20th. The winner will receive a gift certificate to the independent bookstore of their choice, or I will make a donation in their honor to a nonprofit.
View past contest winners here.
Another month, another surprising entry in my monthly poetry contest! In April, the winner of the contest is not an individual, but a SurvivalWolves, a creative collective.
The collective asked that the $25 donation be made directly to Kaze Shadow, the leader of their team. You can read their poem below.
It is my time
For the ones who are unaware, it is my time
I have come from a position that is a far
In my forgotten spirit, I’ll become greatly divine
For the words within the book of me will evolve from its line
Ignite more flames of passion than the bright stars
For the ones who are unaware, it is my time
I was lost, so lost that all I could find
Pushing me forward was my hatred and scars
In my forgotten spirit, I’ll become greatly divine
I soon found more within me, more within life
Something beyond the smoke and blinding bars
For the ones who are unaware, it is my time
Now I move quick, quicker than a piercing knife
Empujando obstáculos, con fuego para ganar
In my forgotten spirit, I’ll become greatly divine
For the people who believed that I wouldn’t strive
Now beyond the clouds, I fly on heaven’s radar
For the ones who are unaware, it is my time
In my forgotten spirit, I’ll become greatly divine
I received a record number of entries this month! I think that the theme of equanimity resonated with a number of readers. This month, I am excited to announce that we have our first international winner!
Ojo Taiye is a Nigerian poet whose work appears in the Rumpus, Glass Poetry Journal, and a number of other places. His poem, “Hereditary Blues,” has a subtle connection to the theme. I appreciated the way his work made me pause and think.
Due to challenges related to international transactions, this month, I made an exception and gave the prize directly to Ojo himself. I definitely didn’t anticipate having international poets enter this contest, so I didn’t anticipate this issue. But I think it’s a good problem to have!
Hereditary Blues
for some years now, you lay out your blue-coated pills & thank them
for their taste buds: the dilating seas that neatly occupy your bed
with a living dream. the sky today is made of your lover’s breath. you
realize your love for him is like a city on fire: mother of all balm &
each growing desire is a wing shaped by time. you dream of homeland
only in your poems. this is always what you wanted: to hold your
breath when no one else will. all day you watch for the mail—lost in
the reverie for some news from a distant place. you are an un-happy
thing—a grey country quietly waiting for the catastrophe of its own
beauty. haven’t you travelled enough—to end the chore. to be lost in a
suspension of time. it maybe the coldest month of the year— & you are
an odd spot of calm misled by want. how your imprecise side stayed up
to watch the sun eat the moon. this morning you woke up to snows &
skies of laughter not enough—
March is the month of the spring equinox. My favorite equinox memory is when my 9th grade geography teacher brought Double-Stuff Oreos for all of her students, because they had equal parts light and dark. (Apparently the true balance of this particular cookie has been debunked, but it remains a wonderful memory nonetheless.)
For the March contest, create a poem that incorporates the theme of equanimity. You can do this any number of ways:
I am so excited to see what you come up with!
Email your poem to allyson@allysonwhipple.com by 11:59 pm on March 20th. The winner will receive a gift certificate to the independent bookstore of their choice, or I will make a donation in their honor to a nonprofit.
View past contest winners here.
Another month, another delayed contest result. This time it was the fault of the Texas Snowpocalypse! I’m glad to be on the other side of that and getting things back on track.
This month’s winner is Peter H. Schmidt. His golden shovel, “Rise Up,” draws from John Gillespie Magee’s “High Flight,” as well as “My Shot (Rise Up Part)” from the musical Hamilton. Peter asked me to make a donation to an organization helping homeless people in Austin; I selected Caritas of Austin, an organization dear to my heart, to receive a $25 donation in his honor.
Rise Up
What does it mean to rise up
Is it enough not to give up
Is hope caged the rage the
Phrase of the heart too long
Denied a fair start, delirious
Furious infamous self-injurious burning
Away as respect is due, blue
Notes all through, I’ve
Never stopped, won’t be topped
Won’t take my eyes off the
Sky, gonna do, not die, wind-swept
I will climb clouds to heights
Flights of eagles at my feet with
Stars so close I’ll make it easy
For all eyes to see: my amazing grace
I can’t wait to see what y’all write for this month’s poetry contest! There are two prize options: 1) A $25 gift certificate to the independent bookstore of your choice, or 2) A $25 donation to the literacy nonprofit, aid organization, or public library of your choice. Please see the Monthly Contest Page for complete rules (there aren’t many) and past winners. This month’s deadline is Friday, February 20th.
Prompt
The golden shovel is a form invented by poet Terrance Hayes. He created it in homage to Gwendolyn Brooks. In honor of Black history month, the February contest is to write a golden shovel related to environmental or climate issues. Feel free to be creative with the source text. My friend E. Kristin Anderson has a series of golden shovels based on Ke$ha songs.
If you’re unfamiliar with this form, read the poem “Golden Shovel” by Terrance Hayes as a reference point. Notice how the line endings in both parts are made up from Brooks’ “We Real Cool.” Notice how Hayes uses the words in a more straightforward way in the first section, and focuses more on sound in the section section. (Note: you do not need to write a multi-section poem; go with what works for you.)
Email your golden shovel to allyson@allysonwhipple.com by 11:59 pm on February 20th. Please also send me the title and author of the poem or song you used as your source text. (Include a link if possible.) The winner will receive a gift certificate to the independent bookstore of their choice, or I will make a donation in their honor to a nonprofit.
After much delay, I’m finally excited to announce the winner of the January poetry contest! I received a record number of entries this month, and on top of that, I had to move unexpectedly after my landlord sold my house! It’s a relief to be getting settled in my new place and back into a routine.
Lisa Janice Cohen wrote the winning haiku. For the prize, she chose a $25 donation to the Central Texas Food Bank.
Frost flowers
A log’s jeweled heart
Fused in glass
Thank you, Lisa! And thanks to everyone else who participated. I was especially heartened to see several entries from people who don’t consider themselves poets or writers.
It’s time for another poetry contest! I can’t wait to see what y’all send me this month. There are two prize options: 1) A $25 gift certificate to the independent bookstore of your choice, or 2) A $25 donation to the literacy nonprofit or public library of your choice. Please see the Monthly Contest Page for complete rules (there aren’t many) and past winners. This month’s deadline is Wednesday, January 20th at 11:59 pm.
Prompt
Write a haiku with the following theme: inside/outside. You do not have to include the theme words in your poem; explore different ways of embodying the theme through language and image. Haiku can range from 1-3 lines. 5-7-5 syllable structure is not required. Please keep haiku to approximately 17 total syllables for the entire poem.
Email your haiku to allyson@allysonwhipple.com by 11:59 pm on January 20th. Given the brevity of the form, poems pasted into the body of the email are preferred. If you have unique formatting that requires submitting as and attachment, that’s fine.
I received a number of delightful holidays poems this month. In a year where I’ve felt out of touch with the holiday spirit (I didn’t even put up the tree), it was lovely to open my inbox and find poems from both good friends and distant acquaintances.
This month’s winning poem is “Christmas Cento” by Christa Pandey. She used the hymnal One Faith/Una Voz (2005) as her source text. In the poem, you’ll see numbers next to each line; these denote the page in the hymnal where the line originally occurred.
Christmas music is my favorite aspect of the winter season, and I have a special fondness for classical carols even though I’m not religious. I enjoyed seeing the ways in which Christa made something new out of traditional music.
As her prize, Christa chose a donation to Conspirare.
Christmas Cento
397 It came upon a midnight clear,
400 the darkness everywhere,
376 the silent stars go by,
397 o’er all the weary world
374 they traveled on together
400 amid the cold of winter.
397 Beneath life’s crushing load
397 the days are hastening on,
390 let nothing you dismay
379 nor thorns infest the ground,
383 wing your flight o’er all the earth
397 above this sad and lowly plain.
376 No ear may hear his coming,
380 silent night, holy night,
382 say what may the tidings be?
380 All is calm, all is bright,
390 all you within this place
380 sleep in heavenly peace.
374 Lo, when they had heard it
387 joyful all ye nations rise
383 ever more your voices raising,
392 the stars in the sky
382 and the mountains in reply
390 each other now embrace.
379 Let us our songs employ,
382 echo back their joyous strains,
379 let every heart prepare him room,
400 dispel in glorious splendor
376 the hopes and fears of all the years
390 when we were gone astray.
374 There shone a holy light,
383 brighter visions beam afar,
387 join the triumph of the skies,
383 sages leave your contemplation,
390 with true love and charity
404 the king of kings salvation brings.
378 O come let us adore him,
378 joyful and triumphant,
382 come adore on bended knee,
404 bring him incense, gold and myrrh.
387 Christ is born in Bethlehem,
379 he rules the world with truth and grace.