Annual Poetry Contests Draw Hundreds of Poets
The results of this year’s poetry contest are in and we’re delighted to announce the winners and honorable mention awards. Many of those listed below plan to read their work at the upcoming NCPS Sam Ragan Awards Day. This in-person meeting on May 10, 2025 will be held at the historic Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities. Fill out the registration form and make plans to join us as we celebrate poetry and poets from many parts of our state!
Student Contest Results Show Hope for the Future
Hundreds of intrepid student poets overcame fall floods and winter snowstorms to submit their poems to the 2025 NCPS student contests. Entries from across North Carolina proved that poetry matters in the land of the longleaf pine. Students from third grade through the undergraduate levels of college sent poems that ranged from snarky to serious, heartbreaking to heartening.
The entries this year proved that North Carolina students care—about the environment, about women’s rights, about war and the Holocaust and nature. Judges were impressed with the passion and skill represented by these submissions. Perusing them will reassure readers that there is hope for the future.
Travis Tuck Jordan Award (Grades 3-5)
Endowed by Dorothy and Oscar Pederson
Judge: Gideon Young
First Place
Mary Grace Dixon, “ADHD”
Second Place
Deetya Singh, “Gymnastics Class”
Third Place
Juliet Geracitano, “Fear”
Honorable Mention
Emmalyn McCuen, “Imagine”
Mary Chilton Award (Grades 6-9)
Sponsored by Tori Reynolds
Judge: Chris Abbate
First Place
Lillian Skolrood, “Dusk Walk”
Second Place
Maxwell Wei, “Aftermath”
Third Place
Bridget Reid, “Unrequited Love: The Echo of a Heart”
Honorable Mention
Juliette McCandlish, “Waiting”
Honorable Mention
Akshaj Singh, “City Nights”
Honorable Mention
Emma Dobre, “Waterfall”
Joan Scott Memorial Award, Environmental Themes (Grades 5-9)
Endowed by contributions in memory of Joan Scott and by the Board of the NC Poetry Society
Judge: Malaika King Albrecht
First Place
Chandramouli Sunkara, “Beneath the Whispering Tree”
Second Place
Akshaj Singh, “Our World’s Song”
Third Place
Lillian Skolrood, “The Reservoir”
Honorable Mention
August Gordon, “A World Made”
Honorable Mention
Avery Shalda, “Two Leaves”
Honorable Mention
Juliette McCandlish, “Wonderful World”
Sherry Pruitt Award (Grades 10-12)
Endowed by Gail Peck
Judge: Pat Riviere-Seel
First Place
Kiran Singh, “Amber Alert”
Second Place
Gracen Hiatt, “Jesus of East Tennessee”
Third Place
Vicky Teng, “Fly Me to the Moon”
Honorable Mention
Jayla Barnes, “Rotation”
Honorable Mention
Samantha Kawalec, “I Would Bleed”
Honorable Mention
Maya Kodali, “War”
Undergraduate Award
Judge: Maureen Sherbondy
First Place
Sophie Taylor, “Self-portrait as a fish in bed”
Second Place
Masha Dixon, “Pelmeni/Russian Dumpling”
Third Place
Sydney Baker, “Male, 18, Straight”
Honorable Mention
Ananya Solanki, “The Song of the American Woman”
Honorable Mention
Shaun Kawalec, “Midday”
Honorable Mention
Gugma Vidal, “birdsong”
Adult Contest Entries Showcase the Vibrancy of Poetry in North Carolina
Just over 700 entries poured in for this year’s 11 adult contests as poets from around the state demonstrated the vital role poetry plays in the arts and our communities. The member and non-member entry fees for these contests are an important source of funding for NCPS initiatives such as the Myers Poetry Fellowship, our Poetry in Plain Sight program, and more. Thank you for your support!
Poet Laureate Award
Sponsored by Press 53
Final Judge: Jaki Shelton Green
Winner
Lynda Myers, “Women’s Wartime Ways Bolster Days of the Great Depression”
Finalist
Morrow Dowdle, “Confidence”
Finalist
Brook Blaylock, “Counting Time”
Finalist
Aruna Gurumurthy, “The Mahalakshmi Blesses”
Finalist
Claudine R. Moreau, “Breaking the Hen”
Alice Osborn Award
Sponsored by Alice Osborn
Judge: Erica Goss
First Place
Richard L. Matta, “Spread Your Wings”
Second Place
Donald Wildman, “Enjoying Your Mosquito Bite”
Honorable Mention
Les Brown, “Mycology”
Honorable Mention
Jane Shlensky, “Huggable”
Honorable Mention
Brewer Eberly, “I Want to Be Right Next of You”
Katherine Kennedy McIntyre Light Verse Award
Sponsored by Diana Pinckney
Judge: Chapman Hood Frazier
First Place
Nick Sweet, “10 Minutes Till Showtime”
Second Place
Don Ball, “Algebraic”
Honorable Mention
Steve Kendall, “My Dog”
Honorable Mention
Deborah Doolittle, “Clueless in Clueville”
Honorable Mention
Lauren Caddick, “Battle of Linda Kane-Pippin”
Bloodroot Haiku Award
Sponsored by Bill Griffin
Judge: Michael Dylan Welch
First Place
Edward Cody Huddleston, “Mom’s Trowel”
Second Place
David Green, “Deep Snow”
Honorable Mention
Rowan Beckett Minor, “Deep Shade”
Honorable Mention
Martin Settle, “Lightning Bugs Rise From Grass”
Honorable Mention
Mary Hennessy, “Our Hands Are All Sky”
Honorable Mention
Karin Hedetniemi, “One Broken Cookie”
Poetry of Courage Award
Endowed by Ann Campanella
Judge: Ray McManus
First Place
Mara Lee Grayson, “For now, you’ll need to cope and compartmentalize, said the therapist”
Second Place
Claudine R. Moreau, “Lament of the Lunar Eclipse in Research Triangle Park”
Honorable Mention
Jenny Bates, “Virga”
Honorable Mention
Ralph Earle, “The Song About the Rodeo”
Bruce Lader Poetry of Witness Award
Sponsored by Doug Stuber
Judge: Matt Donovan
First Place
Michael Loderstedt, “Rodanthe”
Second Place
Kelly White Arnold, “November 6”
Honorable Mention
Lucinda Trew, “Things in Need of Watering”
Honorable Mention
Suzanne Simons, “Instructions for Erasure”
Honorable Mention
Mary Spadoni, “Post-Apocalyptic Apology Tour”
Carol Bessent Hayman Poetry of Love Award
Sponsored by David Manning
Judge: Lola Haskins
First Place
Claudine R. Moreau, “The Atheist”
Second Place
Laura Alderson, “Front Hallway”
Honorable Mention
Brooke Lehmann, “Dumb Luck”
Honorable Mention
Ann Herlong Bodman, “Winds Can Shift”
Honorable Mention
Pam Baggett, “Where Mom Is Now”
Charles Edward Eaton Award
Sponsored by anonymous friends of Charles Edward Eaton
Judge: Nicole Caruso Garcia
First Place
Duncan Smith, “Allegiance”
Second Place
Jane Shlensky, “Thoughts to Warm Cold Nights”
Honorable Mention
Theresa Yuschok, “Zaspivajme! Let’s Sing!”
Mary Ruffin Poole American Heritage Award
Endowed by Pepper Worthington
Judge: Christine Potter
First Place
Brooke Lehmann, “Sierra Glow”
Second Place
Martin Settle, “The Wild Garlic Manifesto”
Honorable Mention
Joyce Compton Brown, “April Bloom”
Robert Golden Award
Sponsored by Nexus Poets and Linda Golden
Judge: David Dodd Lee
First Place
Brooke Lehmann, “Green River”
Second Place
Pam Baggett, “Election Night”
Honorable Mention
Joanne Durham, “Pulaski Skyway”
Honorable Mention
Erika Takacs, “The Women Who Worked in the Whitman Chocolate Factory”
Honorable Mention
Caren Stuart, “What Are My Answers to Questions Conjured as Death Rides a Tarot Card Among Flowers?”
Honorable Mention
Eric Weil, “Answers I Wanted to Give, But Didn’t”
Jean Williams Poetry of Disability, Disease, and Healing Award
Endowed by Priscilla Webster-Williams
Judge: Stacey R. Nigliazzo
First Place
Mary Hennessy, “Like Locusts and Famine in Pearl Buck”
Second Place
Peggy Heitmann, “Still Life with a Gutted Thing”
Honorable Mention
Lora Hawkins, “Poppy”
Honorable Mention
Jennifer Weiss, “Madame Butterfly”
Honorable Mention
Richard L. Matta, “Widow Maker”