Amherst Writers & Artists Press is pleased to announce the winners of the Third Annual Pat Schneider Poetry Contest

Contest Chief Judge: Dr. Sue Walker, Stokes Distinguished Professor University of South Alabama & Poet Laureate of Alabama 2007-2012

1st Prize awarded to Christianne Balk of Seattle, Washington Christianne

Balk will receive the $1,000 prize and her winning poem, “John Muir’s Wild Silk Moth,” will be published in Peregrine, a forum for national and international writers since 1983 committed to finding exceptional work by both emerging and established writers, published by Amherst Writers & Artists Press.

Honorable Mention awarded to (winning poems will be published in Peregrine):

  • Laurie Baron, Holland, Michigan, for “Song of a Long Solitude”
  • Hope Jordan, Canterbury, New Hamphire, for “Janis Joplin’s Sestina”
  • James K. Zimmerman, Pleasantville, New York, for “Eve after the Garden”

Finalists:

  • Clare Bolton, Newmarket, Ontario
  • Marian Calabro, New Jersey
  • Ryan Harper, New Jersey
  • Dee Matthews, Massachusetts
  • Olivia Kenny McCarthy, County Sligo, Ireland
  • Janice Townley Moore, Georgia
  • Margaret O’Brien, County Tipperary, Ireland
  • Annette Opalczynski, Delaware
  • Antonina Palisano, Massachusetts
  • Liz Reilly, New Jersey
  • E. Tomaszewski, Pennsylvania
  • Diana Woodcock, Doha, Qatar

Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA) is a non-profit, international arts organization dedicated to the principle that everyone can use words to create art. The Third Annual Pat Schneider Poetry Contest was made possible by the generous support from the Vessel Foundation and the Friends of Pat & Peter Schneider.