Allyson Whipple

Tag: contest

  • December Poetry Contest

    It’s time for another poetry contest! I can’t wait to see what y’all send me this month. I’m now offering two options for prizes: 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 Tuesday, December 15th at 11:59 pm.

    Prompt
    I love the cento form. It’s a kind of collage poem, where you build a piece out of found text, usually other people’s poems. You can find out more about the cento here: https://poets.org/glossary/cento.

    Create a holiday cento. It can be any holiday from any tradition; you don’t have to limit yourself to the impending winter festivities. You can draw from poems, but also feel free to explore other types of text. Try creating cento out of liturgical passages or prayers. Dig into that pile of greeting cards you’ve saved from Easter, Valentine’s Day, or Christmas past. Create a cento out of advertising copy for holiday sales. Email your poem to allyson@allysonwhipple.com by 11:59 pm on December 15th. 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 literacy nonprofit.

  • November Poetry Contest Winner

    Thanks to those who participated in the November poetry challenge! One of the fun things has been seeing who enters. I received poems from people that I had no idea were interested in writing!

    Image Credit: Paul McGuire

    This month’s winner is my friend, Colleen Miller. In lieu of a gift certificate, Colleen opted for a donation in her honor to Room to Read, an organization that promotes literacy and girls’ education. Here’s the winning poem!

    G’mornink

    The feathered chonk plomps on my shoulder. “Bonjourno! My funny, gray angster.

    She laughs and explains the situation.
    “Good girl!”

    Only two words, but I catch her meaning. She has indeed been well behaved today and deserves a reward.

    I hold a slice of Lite-Brite pink grapefruit out on my palm.

    Dancing excitedly, my ersatz child digs her black beak into the acidic flesh.

    In an instant, her reward becomes my regret as it squirts to land in my eye.

    Life. It would be nothing without these bad surprises from good decisions.

  • November Poetry Contest

    I’m excited for another round of the Monthly Poetry Contest! This time around, I’ve extended the deadline so that people have more time to draft and send a poem. Once again, the prize is a $25 gift card to the independent bookstore of the winner’s choosing. See the Monthly Poetry Contest page for complete rules (there aren’t many).

    Prompt
    Last month, I had a dream where an angel allowed me to see my favorite writer’s afterlife records. One of the tabs in the folder was labeled, “Bad Surprises from Good Decisions.” When I woke up, that phrase stayed with me.

    Write a poem of any length, using “Bad Surprises from Good Decisions” either in your title and/or the poem itself. Emailyour poem to allyson@allysonwhipple.com by 11:59 pm on November 15th. The winner will receive a gift certificate to the independent bookstore of their choice.

  • We have a winner!

    Congratulations to Carol Dorf, winner of my inaugural monthly poetry contest! She won a $25 gift card to East Bay Booksellers.

    Yes, inaugural winner, because this was so much fun that I’m going to run it again! Details in early November.

    For now, please enjoy Carol’s winning poem!

    At this Resolution

    How do ants avoid drowning,
    and how sympathetic to their plight

    should I be? I admit I am a monster
    when they form lines across the counter.

    They (and I) wish I were on a sofa
    zoning into the NBA finals, or maybe

    attempting to mimic the choreography
    that follows the irresistible rise of k-pop.

    © Carol Dorf, 2020

  • Let’s have a poetry contest!

    When I looked at my phone this morning, I saw the above notification from The Economist on my screen and thought, that could be an interesting prompt. But I wasn’t just interested in writing a poem based on the headline; I wanted to see what other people would write as well. So I’m throwing a quick weekend poetry contest!

    All you need to do is write a poem using “the irresistible rise of K-pop, the NBA finals and how ants avoid drowning” in the title and/or the stanzas themselves. Email me your piece by Monday, October 12th at 11:59 pm CST. Send your poem to allyson@lunanidra.com with a relevant subject line.

    Since all contests deserve prizes, I’ll send the winner a $25 gift certificate to the independent bookstore of their choice.

    I’m excited to see how this goes. I might make it a monthly thing!