It is my extreme pleasure to announce the winners of the 2023 Pinesong Awards.
Poet Laureate Award
Preliminary Judge: Holly Iglesias
Final Judge: Joseph Bathanti
First Place: Jane Shlensky – Preservation
Finalists:
Les Brown – Guernica
Joyce Brown – Pintos
Mary Alice Dixon – Communion with Orange
Eric Weil – Little Pieces
Liza Wolff-Francis – A Grieiving of a Tree
Earl Huband – An Incomplete History of a Storied Work
Morrow Dowdle – Emmet, I Can’t Stop
Sean Doyle – Grown Up
Alice Osborn Award
Judge: Olena Rose
1st Place: Carmen Ward – Bookfish
2nd Place: Scott Owens – What Poems Are About
Honorable Mention: Richard Taylor – Things You Can Do with a Balloon
Honorable Mention: Richard L. Matta – a doggie shares complaints
Honorable Mention: Eric Weil – A Secret
Mary Ruffin Poole American Heritage Award
Judge: Shannon C. Ward
1st Place: Joanne Durham – Praying Mantis
2nd Place: Laura Alderson – Deep closet archaeology
Honorable Mention: Priscilla Webster Williams – A Relic in an Age of Repair
Honorable Mention: Tori Reynolds – Poem with Balloons
Bruce Lader Poetry of Witness Award
Judge: Jay Ward
1st Place: Lucinda Trew – we say their names
2nd Place: Rose-Mary Harrington – Border Crossing
Honorable Mention: Lavonne Adams – Symbiotic
Bloodroot Haiku Award
Judge: Lenard Moore
1st Place: Glenn Coats – light offshore
2nd Place: Jeff Ferrara – on another plane
Honorable Mention: Cody Huddleston – wild blackberries
Honorable Mention: Anne Louise Curran – a jaunty floral
Thomas H. McDill Award
Judge: Steve Cushman
1st Place: Glenn Coats – The Austin Boy
2nd Place: Pam Baggett – Hendrix at Eighty
Honorable Mention: Mary Spadoni Foolish to Think
Honorable Mention: Laura Younger – The Sound of Perfume
Honorable Mention: Carmen Ward – Parting Gift
Jean Williams Poetry of Disability, Disease, and Healing Award
Judge: Stacy R. Nigliazzo
1st Place: Carlin Corsino – Medical Ethics
2nd Place: David Cameron – Special
Honorable Mention: Pam Baggett – Winner
Honorable Mention: Peggy Heitmann – You’d Never Know Unless I Told You
Honorable Mention: Josh Lefkowitz – Decisions
Carol Bessent Hayman Poetry of Love Award
Judge: Melissa Hassard
1st Place: Jennifer Hu – While waiting, what do you think of?
2nd Place: J.S.Absher – The Horse and His Rider Hath He Thrown into the Sea
Honorable Mention: Beth Copeland – Eleven Lines In Search of the Perfect Rhyme
Katherine Kennedy McIntyre Light Verse Award
Judge: Audrey Smith
1st Place: Sherry Siddall – Sympathy for a Cockroach
2nd Place: John Desjarlais – My Skeleton Speaks
Honorable Mention: Susan Spalt – It is bad enough
Honorable Mention: Sharon Howard – Life As I Know It
Honorable Mention: Mary Alice Dixon – Sales Tips for Swimwear Associates at Big Body Beachwear & Gear
Poetry of Courage Award
Judge: Ebony Stewart
1st Place: Richard L. Matta – Do not fill your chamber with despair
2nd Place: Mary Spadoni – Lifeguard training to take place this Saturday at Main East High School
Honorable Mention: Rose-Mary Harrington – Peggy’s Husband
Honorable Mention: Lee Seese – PTSD
Honorable Mention: Megan Feichtel – Broken
Joanna Catherine Scott Award
Judge: D.J. Rogers
1st Place: Lavonne Adams – Ghazal: Ghost Apples (Kent County, Michigan)
2nd Place: Bradley R. Strahan – Now Be Still
Honorable Mention: Joyce Brown – Ghazal for Lost Family
Honorable Mention: Beth Copeland – Appalachian Ghazal
I am incredibly thankful for every poet that submitted to this year’s contests. Each of our judges noted the caliber of the work and the difficulty in making their selections. Stay tuned for more information about our awards’ ceremony in May!
Lumpkin Out.
PINESONG AWARDS 