Chicagoland 69th Poetry Contest
Winners Announced!

Submission period is concluded

Poetry Contest Categories & Rules:

Click to view/download a complete list of categories and rules (PDF) ➞

Contest Rules, Submission Guidelines & details listed below ↓

Chicagoland Annual Poetry Contest Winners Announced

On behalf of Poets & Patrons, congratulations to the winning poets and thank you to the judges. We are honored to have so many poets participating in the contest. 

Betrayal
Judge: Michael Magee
1st place: Marianne Peel, “Washington Square Park, 1965: A Study in Longing and Betrayal”
2nd place: Pauline Kochanski, “i look in the mirror”
3rd place: Rob Baker, “Aloe Vera (True Resin)”
1st HM: Max Williams, “Ghazal of He Who Is ‘The Other Woman’”
2nd HM: E.J. Wade, “I Never Expected”
3rd HM: Rebecca Biber, “New World Aphorisms”

Birds
Judge: Rebecca Kanan
1st place: Rob Baker, “Whooping Crane”
2nd place: E.J. Wade, “Ocular Invasion”
3rd place: Carol Alfus, “The blue-footed booby upon being asked about its name”
1st HM: Lynda La Rocca, “Near Timberline”
2nd HM: Jerri Hardesty, “Wings 3”
3rd HM: Melissa Huff, “Close Quarters”

Free Verse
Judge: Roderick Bates
1st place: Lorraine Jeffery, “Interview with the Cowboy Judge”
2nd place: Marianne Peel, “After Everyone Departs”
3rd place: Wilda Morris, “Don Juan Dad”
1st HM: James Green, “Tackle Box”
2nd HM: Dan Fitzgerald, “Good Visitor”
3rd HM: Rob Baker, “Laces”

Formal Verse
Judge: Elizabeth Kerlikowske
1st place: Lynda La Rocca, “Trinity Site”
2nd place: Marianne Peel, “Becoming an Orphan at 65 (A Double Haibun)”
3rd place: Melissa Huff, “Evening Colors”
1st HM: Tracy Davidson, “Ghost Town”
2nd HM: Lorraine Jeffery, “Sour Taste”
3rd HM: Rebecca Biber, “Three Needle Sonnets”

Humorous
Judge: Dan Campion
1st place: Paul Buchheit, “Logic”
2nd place: Barbara Lydecker Crane, “Three Imaginary Birds”
3rd place: Max Williams, “Pantoum”
1st HM: Tina Sacco, “At Odds with Oz”
2nd HM: Rob Baker, “How to Write and Publish a Poem Guaranteed to Go Viral”
3rd HM: Jared Schmitz, “Sonnet for Cheese”

Miniature
Judge: Marianne Paul
1st place: Catherine Moran, “Thinking of those last minutes”
2nd place: Marianne Peel, “The Clairvoyant Grants Me a Yellow Wish”
3rd place: Ninetta DeBoni, “Hookup Filter”
1st HM: Willa Moore, “Old Girl”
2nd HM: Rob Baker, “evening heat”
3rd HM: Melissa Huff, “Caregiver Camouflage”

Nature
Judge: Janice Freytag
1st place: James Green, “Mae Surin River, Rising”
2nd place: Lynn Aprill, “At fifteen below”
3rd place: Rebecca Biber, “Brood Ex”
1st HM: Catherine Moran, “Details of a parallel universe”
2nd HM: Samina Hadi-Tabassum, “Dwelling”
3rd HM: Maggie Capettini, “October twenty-second”

Pets
Judge: Peter Gordon
1st place: Candace Armstrong, “Therapy Dog”
2nd place: E.J. Wade, “WANTED: Companion for Chaos and Cuddles”
3rd place: Lynda La Rocca, “Reflections”
1st HM: Lynn Aprill, “A Chicago Cat”
2nd HM: Rob Baker, “Hauntings”
3rd HM: Jocelyn Ajami, “Louise”

Social Justice/Social Conscience
Judge: Deborah Petersen
1st place: Jocelyn Ajami, “In a Word”
2nd place: Stephanie Renee DuPont, “Pointillism”
3rd place: Melissa Huff, “Mending”
1st HM: Rebecca Biber, “Disturbing the Nest”
2nd HM: Elizabeth Stanley King, “in the desert”
3rd HM: Cynthia Gallaher, “The Gaza Strip of Gauze”

Strangers
Judge: Catherine Moran
1st place: E.J. Wade, “Confession”
2nd place: Marianne Peel, “A Daisy Just Pushed Through a Crack in the Concrete”
3rd place: Lynn Aprill, “The night of the blood moon eclipse”
1st HM: Camille Balla, “In a Matter of a Moment”
2nd HM: Carol Kanter, “Autumn Walks”
3rd HM: Mark Hudson, “Stranger in the Snow”

To join Poets & Patrons visit our membership page ➞

Contest Rules, Submission Guidelines, Categories, and details below ↓

Contest Categories and Judges (in alpha order)

Nature
Judge: Janice Freytag

Pets
Judge: Peter Gordon

Social Justice/
Social Conscience
Judge: Deborah Petersen

Strangers
Judge: Catherine Moran